Forever Is a Long Time
by Awesomellama
Summary: Sometime after Donna and before 11, Rose finds away to get back to the Doctor. But this method comes at a cost, and she brings a lovely little tear in the fabric of reality ("lovely little tear" meaning "huge, gaping hole"), which the Doctor is less than happy about. What will this bring? Really long author's notes, apparently. Oh, and some imprisonment. And death. You know.
1. Summary

**So sorry about this kind of long summary. But I needed more space to talk.**

**So first of all, this fanfiction is about the 10th Doctor and Rose. There will be romance, Dalek encounters, Captain Jack Harkness, and all that great stuff. Also, this fanfiction is different from others because the Doctor and Rose might not always have a perfect relationship like they do in a lot of other fanfics (I'm trying not to spoil stuff and be as vague as possible in this summary, as you can probably tell) So yeah, I encourage you to give my fanfic a chance.**

**Also, about the T rating, I rated it that because I'm not sure where this fanfiction will go (I have a vaugue idea, but idk). I decided to do T just to be safe. Pretty much, if have watched a recent YA movies (TFIOS, Divergent, The Hunger Games, If I Stay, etc.) without being disturbed, terrified, scarred for life, or disgusted, you will be fine with this fanfic.  
**

**BTW the "scarred for life" thing is an exaggeration in case you are genuinely worried right now XD  
**

**So yeah, please read, favorite, follow, review  
**

**With no further ado, I present to you: MY FANFIC OF DOCTOR WHO!**  
**:) That rhymed**

**The actual story starts in the next chapter :D  
**


	2. 1: Reunion

**Rose's POV:**

_Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease! _I beg silently.

The generator hums. The humming grows louder and louder as it beams light onto the key on the table. My heart speeds up. _It's working!_

I feel the Earth shake under my feet. I ignore it.

The key begins to glow, something it hasn't done in years. I can barely breathe.

Then the noise comes.

A noise I haven't heard in 50 years.

The sound of a TARDIS.

And then another noise comes.

A voice saying "what?"

And this "what?" is unmistakable.

The door of the TARDIS opens slowly.

"Doctor!" I yell. I crash into him, wrapping my arms around him, tears in my eyes.

"Rose?" he gasps. He holds my face in front of his. I beam at him. "I found you.  
I thought he would be happy. But he looks horrified. "Rose Tyler," he says softly.

"Yes?" I ask shakily. This is not the reunion I dreamed of at all.

"How did you get me here?" he asks, his voice angry.

"I-I amplified the power of the TARDIS key you gave me. I needed you, Doctor, I needed to find you," I stutter.

The Doctor pulls me into the TARDIS roughly. "YOU RIPPED A HOLE IN THE UNIVERSE! YOU COULD BE BRINGING ON THE APOCALYPSE RIGHT NOW FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH REASONS!" he yells.

Tears spring to my eyes. I sink to the floor. "I wanted to find you," I whisper.

"YOU CAN BE SO RIDICULOUSLY SELFISH SOMETIMES ROSE! DON'T YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE COME FOR YOU IF THERE WERE ANY WAY TO GET YOU BACK?"

"Well I don't know. Maybe you were going to say you weren't coming back, that you hated me, back on that beach. I don't know. You never finished your sentence."

His brown eyes bore into me. "You know what I was going to say."

"Well why don't you say it?" I plead.

"I'm not sure you deserve it anymore," he says quietly. He turns, his long coat billowing around him, and storms out of the room

I bury my head in my hands. _What have I done?_

**The Doctor's POV:**

_Rose is here why is she here WHAT DID SHE DO SHE BROKE A HOLE IN THE UNIVERSE WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH HER HOW COULD SHE DO THIS WHY IS SHE SO STUBBORN WHY DID SHE DO THIS!?_

_ She ripped a hole in the universe. On purpose._

_ For me._

I miss her so much. I want to run back and grab her and kiss her.

But I can't. When I look at her, I don't see the blonde girl who saved my life countless times. I don't see the girl who had sympathy for a Dalek.

I see a girl who saw firsthand what happens when you open up the parallel universes, a girl who lost everything the last time it happened. And then reopened them.

I see the evil in her.

I don't like to see the evil in people. I don't like my friends to ever let their darkness out. Which is hyppocratic, I know, because I have so much darkness in me.

But I can't help it. I like good people because they let me pretend that I'm a good person.

Regardless, I need to figure out what to do with her. She doesn't have a home in this dimension anymore. I can't just drop her anywhere.

Martha and Mickey are too busy with Unit to take her in. They both also have a bit of a rocky relationship with her, so I could never ask them to watch her.

Sarah Jane can't take her, she's already looking after a son.

I could send her to Jack. But he's got enough on his hands with Torchwood. And something about the idea of sending her to Jack doesn't feel… right.

Okay fine, maybe I don't want her to be with Jack.

I can't send her to the past or future, because she could cause some serious paradoxes if she said something wrong or met people she was supposed to have known.

And I can't just put her somewhere on her own because she'll find a way to call me back if she is given the chance.

I can't drop her back off in the parallel universe we just left. I won't. I won't be able to say goodbye again.

I saw the despair in her eyes both times I left her. I can't do that to her again.

What am I going to do?


	3. 2: I Would Go Through Hell

_**Hi! So, as you may have noticed, this chapter has no title. Sorry, I couldn't think of a good one. I'll work on that for future chapters.**_

**Rose's POV:**

He comes back a couple hours later. I stand up as he strides in. "Doctor…" I begin.

"Don't talk to me." His voice is furious, but also somehow dead. Broken.

"I didn't know this would happen, okay? I thought you could close the rift like you did last time."

"It's not that easy! Last time, Torchwood controlled the rift. Now no one does."

I can tell there's something he's keeping from me. "Doctor, I can see it in your eyes. How do we close the rift?"

He sighs. "There's one way I know of," he says finally.

"What is it. I'll do it, no matter how hard it is."

"I could send you back."

I stare at him. "Back… to the parallel universe?"

"Yes. But I could never do it."

"If we don't close it, what will happen?" I ask, scared of the answer.

"Who knows what's out there. We may have gotten the cybermen out of the way, but they might come back. There could also be more Daleks, and no Timelords to oppose them. Even more humans coming through could cause tons of wars. There's-"

I cut him off . "I'll do it."

"You'll… what?"

"I'll go. Doctor, I would go through hell to find you. But I would go through it hundred times to save you. So I will."

"But you tried so hard to get me back… how can you willingly…" he looks genuinely confused.

"I spent 50 years getting you back. And I did get you back. Now I have to give that up for you. And I will."

"50 years… Rose, you're 70!"

"I know that, thank you."

"But you…"

"Haven't aged? Yeah, I swallowed the heart of the TARDIS, remember?"

He looks like he is going to say something, but I cut him off. I need to keep talking or I won't make it to the end of what I want to say.

"I haven't aged. I can't age. I'll live forever. And I'll be alone. Alone like you, Doctor. I will watch my family age and die and I won't be able to do anything. My parents already…" I trail off, my eyes moist. The Doctor reaches out to me, but I hold up my hand in a silent "no." I need to finish talking.

"My mum and dad died. Peacefully. Together. Just like Mum always wanted. But still dead. I'm already alone. My sister, the baby Mum was pregnant with the last time I spoke to you, has grown up. I'm lonely, Doctor, and I know you feel the same way. I thought if I could just find you, we could be together. Forever. Although I guess fate doesn't work that way. There can't be a forever," my voice quivers as I finish talking. I feel like I'm melting as my knees buckle and I fall to the floor, shaking. The Doctor puts his and on my back.

"I can't let you go through that rift. I can't let you feel like I do," he says.

"I'll be okay, Doctor. I really will. I'll be fine." I try to convince him, although I'm not convinced myself.

"No, Rose, you won't. You don't know what it's like, being alone, feeling the centuries crash down on you, threatening to suffocate you. Even I constantly have companions beside me, and I'm a Timelord. I was born to carry this burden," he says.

"Doctor, I can manage it," I assure him.

"Rose, have you ever heard the Greek myth of Atlas?" the Doctor asked. I shook my head. "It's about a titan named Atlas who was forced to carry the sky as punishment for opposing the Olympians. Atlas is always depicted as straining, sweating, and in pain. The strength of a god could barely hold that burden. Time is like that sky, Rose. You can't carry it alone," he argues.

I try to think of a good argument. But he has beaten me. "Does that mean you want me to stay?" I ask.

"No. I just don't want you to have to go through what I have. I wouldn't wish it on my greatest enemy. Even though my greatest enemy has no emotions and wouldn't feel the pain at all." Then he leaves again. I watch him until the last inch of his coat has disappeared through the doorway.

I am just beginning to wonder whether or not I should follow him when he pops back into the room. "TORCHWOOD!" he yells triumphantly.

"What?" I stare at him, confused.

"Torchwood. Torchwood controlled the rift last time, and they can do it again this time," he says. While speaking, he began to flip switches and press buttons on the TARDIS. The sight of him flipping all those while explaining things seems so familiar, so right, that I almost feel like the last 50 years never happened, that we're just the Doctor and Rose Tyler, traveling among the stars, filled with joy and wonder.

Almost.

The TARDIS stops making it's signature sound and I know that we've landed. The Doctor rushes to the door and opens it. I run to a spot next to him and gasp.


	4. 3: Thornless Roses

**Rose's POV:**

What hits me first is the sound. A chorus of birdsong, beautiful to the point of seeming unreal. The smell is otherworldly, too. It smells like a hundred flowers with their scents somehow amplified. The smell and sound together create a relaxed, blissful vibe.

The scene outside is breathtaking. The sky is a clear blue, so bright I don't think it could possibly be real. There is a forest in front of us, but not a forest like I've ever seen.

The trees have alternating white and brown trunks, which is interesting in itself, but the big thing about them is the leaves. They're red, pink, and white, and they're each shaped like perfect hearts. A light pink one flutters to the ground at my feet. I bend over and pluck it out of the grass. Or at least, I assume it's grass. It's a kind of silvery color, not like any grass on Earth. But here the leaves are pink, so I suppose the grass can be silver.

I turn the leaf over in my hand. It still has veins like a leaf, but the rest of it is pretty alien. I turn to the Doctor. "What is this place?" I ask him.

He gazes down at the leaf in my hand emotionlessly. "Planeta Amore. The Planet of Love."

_Planet of Love? Did I hear him wrong or something? Didn't he just break up with me? Why are we on the "planet of love"?!_

"I didn't bring us here," the Doctor stated, as if he read my thoughts.

"Well why are we here, then?"

The Doctor steps a few feet forward and turns around. He looks up at the light at the top of the TARDIS. "You think this is funny, do you?" he calls. I stare at him, question in my eyes. "The TARDIS sent us here," he explained.

I smirk. "The TARDIS knows what she's doing."

He glares at me. "Maybe she does, but I still control her, and the TARDIS is going to take us to Earth now." He pushes past me into the TARDIS. He presses a couple buttons.

Nothing happens.

He looks up at the ceiling. "Very funny," he yells.

"What?" I ask from the doorway.

"Now she's decided she needs to charge. We're going to have to stay here for 24 hours."

He looks very upset about the idea. "Well, a 'planet of love' can't be that bad. I mean, it looks nice," I try to cheer him up.

He scowls at the trees outside so frustratedly I half expect lasers to shoot out of his eyes of something and burn the forest to a crisp. "Right now, a planet of love is the last thing I want."

"It may not be what you want, but I think it's what you need," I announce, turning my back to him and marching towards the forest.

He mutters something in Gallifreyan before running to catch up to me.

**Doctor's POV:**

I hate it here.

It's pretty-looking, sure, but it's just a giant intergalactic tourist trap.

And the TARDIS just had to send me here with Rose, of all people, the person I want to hate.

I want to hate her, I really do. But then I see the way she picks up the leaf that falls in front of her, so full of wonder, not caring that it's foreign or strange. I look at her and I see Rose Tyler, the girl who opened the heart of the TARDIS to save me.

Thanks a lot, TARDIS.

Rose is looking around in wonder, touching the leaves and trunks of all the trees we pass. Soon, we emerge from the forest and find ourselves in a rose garden. Rose breathes closes her eyes and breathes in the scent of the roses. They smell overly sweet, almost sickening, to me, but she seems to enjoy the smell. After smelling the flowers, she strolls over to one and examines it. I follow her.

"These rose's don't have thorns," she observes.

"Of course they don't," I sigh, "they're not real roses."

She looks at me questioningly, but is soon distracted by a couple on a bench on the other side of the garden. The man plucks a rose from a nearby bush and hands it to the woman with a flourish. The woman giggles.

"Doctor, those people… those people are human."

I am about to explain to her that this is a human planet and that we're in the 60th century right now when we hear a scream.

Rose's head whips towards the noise. We share a very familiar glance, then we take of towards the noise.


	5. 4: The Blue Girl

**_Hi guys! So in this chapter I use the word "telly" a couple of times, and sorry if I misuse it once or twice or something. If I do, please review and tell me that (I'm not British so IDK much about British words and stuff.)_**

**Rose's POV:**

_Screaming. Why is someone screaming on the planet of love? Is someone hurt? RUN FASTER ROSE, RUN FASTER! _Those are a few of the million thoughts that race through my head as the Doctor and I rush towards the noise.

The rows and rows of thornless roses are a blur as I dash past them. They come into focus, though, as the Doctor and I slow to a halt, panting. I catch my breath and look around. At first, there appears to be no one there. I'm just about to tell the Doctor that the scream could have come from anywhere and there's no way to tell if we're even close to the source when he puts his hand over my mouth. He creeps forward slowly, beckoning for me to follow him.

After moving a couple steps farther, I strain my ears and hear a quiet whimpering noise coming from behind a row of roses.

We tiptoe around the row. I expect a horrible scene on the other side. An alien sucking the blood out of a dead body and a person with a bloodstained knife sticking out of their chest are just a few of the gruesome images that come to mind.

Instead, a girl sits on the other side, looking down at a flower petal in her hand. I let out a sigh of relief. No dead bodies here. The girl hears sigh and looks up, revealing bright blue. Her eyes are red and puffy (actually, they're more of a purple color because of the blue skin, but if she had normal skin they would've been red). She's obviously been crying.

I walk over to her and pat her on the back. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"He… he dumped me," she sobs, staring in shock at the petal in her hand, "he gave me this petal and told me that was the last gift I would ever get from him."

Ah. Relationship problems. "Well, whenever I get dumped, I like to go home, curl up on the couch, eat everything calorie-filled I can find, and watch a lot of telly. Actually, do you still have telly? I'm not exactly sure what year it is, although judging from your colorful, um, complexion…"

The girl shoots me a _what've you been smoking? _look, but continues to cry. "I can't go home and watch telly! I can never watch telly again! He dumped me! Don't you get it? He dumped me!" she weeps.

"Look, I know you're upset, but it's not the end of the world."

"Yes it is! Don't you get it?"

I look at the Doctor, confused. He looks puzzled too. I turn back to the girl, not sure of what to say. "Um… It's okay, just go… buy some ice cream and you'll calm down," I try in vain to console her.

"I can't buy ice cream! They're coming for me!" she wails.

Perplexed, I turn to the Doctor. He comes to kneel next to us and scans the girl with his sonic screwdriver. He stands up after a short time. "Nothing" he reports.

I stand up next to him. "Well, we have to go. But remember, sweets and telly," I prescribe.

After we pass a few rows of roses, I look over at the Doctor.

"That was weird," I remark.

"Yeah. I just feel like we're missing something. 'They're coming.' Who's they?" he wonders aloud.

"She's probably just distraught. I was probably like that last time I got dumped," I reason.

"Probably?" he asks.

"I got drunk afterward."

"Ah."

We walk in an awkward silence for a couple moments.

"She'll feel better after some down time. She'll just hang out at home with some ice cream and realize that he isn't the whole world," I say. The Doctor nods. A few seconds pass. "And maybe I should do the same," I continue, looking down at my.

"Rose…"

"Doctor, you hate me. I can't be forgiven for what I did. It's okay, really."

It's not okay. Nothing about this is okay. Not all the ice cream in all the universes could make me get over him. But I try to convince him anyway.

He turns his head and studies a rose next to him.

"Fine then. I can take a hint. I'll go," I burst out with a sudden wave of anger. I turn around and march back the way we came. The Doctor runs after me.

"Rose!" he calls, "Rose, I didn't mean to snub you! I was thinking! Rose, where are you going?"

I come to a halt. _Where can I go? The only place to go is the TARDIS. I can't storm off to _his _ship! _

The Doctor catches up to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Rose…"

I shake him off, and am about to yell at him when we hear a scream.

A familiar scream.

The blue girl.


	6. 5: Glitter

**Rose's POV:**

We race back to the place where we talked to the girl. _What is happening? Isn't this supposed to be a 'planet of love'? Shouldn't people be happy here?_

We reach the place where she was.

There's nothing here.

The Doctor and I search the area. After a couple minutes, we meet back up.  
"Nothing. Are you sure we're in the right place?" I ask.

"Yeah, we passed exactly 67 rows of roses when we ran here. This is where she was," the Doctor answers.

"But she can't be gone. The scream came from here. And I've watched enough detective movies to be able to know what signs of struggle look like."

The Doctor raises an eyebrow. "Detective movies?"

"Shut up."

"Well, you're right. It doesn't look like anyone dragged her away or anything, but where is she?" he wonders.

"Well, I'm going to check again. I'll be back here in 5 minutes." I announce, heading over to another row of roses.

**Doctor's POV:**

"Don't wander too far!" I holler after Rose.

Then something in the grass catches my eye.

I kneel down. It flashes in the sunlight, tiny little specks of dust in the grass.

No, not dust, glitter.

The ground around me is covered in glitter. Blue glitter.

This is the exact spot where the blue girl was.

_She said she could never watch telly again. She was scared. Scared because she got dumped. _

_ This is a planet for lovers. Only lovers are here._

The realization hits me so hard, it feels like the time the TARDIS fell through the fabric of reality into parallel London. This is a planet of love. Fighting is not allowed.

And I just had a fight with Rose.

"Rose!" I cry, charging in the direction she went.

I stop and look around. A sparkle catches my eye.

I am standing in a patch of glitter. Red glitter, like a rose.

I collapse onto the grass, my tears falling on the ground around me, mixing with the glitter. I lie there, mourning, until I notice something on my hand.

Brown glitter. Brown, the color of my hair, my eyes, and my suit.

I should be worried. But instead, I just watch, numbly, as my hand dissolves into glitter, which mixes with the red glitter on the ground.

I should regenerate. I need to regenerate.

I watch the two glitter colors mix on the ground. I think of what would happen if I didn't regenerate.

We would be together forever.

But no, I have to go on. I have to avenge Rose.

I have to figure out who did this.

Then I realize I'm not in the rose garden anymore.

**Rose's POV: **

_Where is that girl? _I wonder, _Did something happen to her? _

_ Is she dead? _

I don't want to think about that possibility.

I already checked here. I just wanted to be alone.

I lower myself down to the ground and hug my knees to my chest. Tears slip down my face silently, leaving streaks in my makeup like rivers on my face.

I thought summoning the Doctor back to me would be perfect. Now that I can't age, I thought we could be together forever.

But in getting him back, I have pushed him farther away than he has ever been.

I barely even notice when my tears and the legs they fall on turn into bright red glitter.

_**Hey guys! So this chapter was kind of short, I know, but the ending seemed like a good ending for a chapter (cliffhanger. You hate me now, don't you? XD) so I just went with a short chapter.**_

_**Also, recently I've been doing (almost) daily updates. This was because I already had 2 or 3 chapters ready to upload when I uploaded chapter 1. My chapters will probably come a little less often, depending on how much homework I have and how much stuff I have to do. I will still try to update at least once a week, though. **_


	7. 6: Captured

_**Hey guys! So wow, this fanfic has 4 followers, which is actually a record for me (I know, kind of pathetic). So yeah, thank you guys, and here is the next chapter.  
**_

**Rose's POV:**

My eyes flutter open. I sigh contentedly, enjoying the soft feather pillow under my head. The comforter on top of me is fleecy and makes me never want to get out of bed.

Wait.

Where am I?

The bed seems to suddenly lose it's luxury. I scramble out of it and end up rolling onto a white plush carpet on the floor. I jump up, a little dizzy.

The room is small and smells of roses. The walls and ceiling are white, as is the plush carpet on the floor. Dresser, bedframe, and bedside table are white, too. The pillowcases and sheets are red. The comforter, which is falling off the bed from when I kicked it off, is white with a big red heart in the center. The dresser has a red-framed mirror hanging on the wall next to a gold-colored vase filled with red tulips sitting on the dresser.

The room is bright, even though the only lamp in the room is a small white table lamp with a red shade, and there are no windows to let in natural light.

There are no windows and no doors, so I definitely am a prisoner, but a well-treated prisoner. Hmm…

Also, how did I get here? I was turning into glitter. Was that some sort of teleportation thing?

I look in the mirror as I ponder my predicament. My makeup is a mess from crying, and my hair, which I grew to the middle of my back in the parallel universe, is disheveled and sticking up everywhere. The only clean thing about me is the silky white nightgown I'm wearing.

My thoughts are interrupted by a voice coming from the wall.

Well, not the wall, exactly, the voice is kind of coming from the whole room.

"Good morning, Rose Tyler," a soothing, female machine-voice greets.

"Who are you?" I ask apprehensively.

"I am Planeta Amore," the voice replies.

"You're the planet?" I question.

"I run the planet," the voice answers.

"Okay, I'll take that. But why am I here?"

"We must create love."

"What?"

"We must create love," it repeats.

"Create love?"

The voice ignores my question. "Come with me," it instructs. A panel slides open in the wall, revealing a small metal cubicle.

I curiously tiptoe to the opening. _Should I go? I need to find the Doctor. _

I touch the wall near the door. I hold my breath as I step into the cubicle.

As soon as I step into the cubicle, the panel slides closed, plunging the small 2x2 foot space into darkness.

I've never been claustrophobic before, but now I feel like I'm suffocating. I begin to panic, pounding on the cold walls.

Suddenly, the walls begin to glow brightly. I am forced to close my eyes from the light coming from everywhere.

I smell roses and feel a whoosh of air swish through the small space.

Suddenly, I feel lightheaded.

I bump my head on the wall as I crumple to the floor.

**Doctor's POV:**

The room smells sweet.

Too sweet. Sickeningly sweet.

I cough. The smell is getting stronger and stronger, and I feel it clogging my throat. It's some sort of airborne sedative. I can feel it forcing my mind to close, forcing me to shut down. I fall to the floor.

I grit my teeth. My head feels like it weighs a couple hundred pounds, but I manage to pull it off the floor and force myself onto my hands and knees. Almost blind from pain, I crawl forward.

My mind is blank. The scent of the flowers is taking over. I can't withstand it much longer.

Desperately, I thrust my screwdriver in the air, trying to think of a good catchphrase.

The only thing I can think to yell is "ROSE TYLER!" as I collapse onto the cold tile floor.


	8. 7: Match

**Rose's POV:**

"Go!" the Doctor pleads. He wants me to leave him behind.

"No! I won't leave you!" I cry. I search my surroundings wildly, seeking a way to pry off the metal beam that has fallen on the Doctor's waist.

He reaches his hand out and holds my arm. "Rose Tyler," he begins.

"NO!" I scream like a little girl who's mum just told her she couldn't go to her friend's birthday party, "NO!"

"Rose Tyler. You have had to make so many hard decisions in your life. Now you have to make the hardest on yet. I'm sorry," his eyes are full of sorrow, a sadness deeper than the universe itself.

The ground begins to rumble. "NOOOOOOO!" I wail.

My eyes snap open. My heart is a sledgehammer, trying to drill it's way out of my chest.

I take in my surroundings. I am sitting on a white love seat with a single red throw pillow with a pink heart on it. The room I am in is painted white, like the bedroom I was in, except this room has no carpet, the floor is made of panels of some sort of smooth substance that's the same color of the walls. The only piece of furniture in the room besides the couch is a white cube of the floor substance with a vase glass of red and pink tulips placed on it.

I look down at myself. I'm wearing white shorts and a burgundy shirt made of the same silky material as the nightgown I had earlier. My shoes are sandal-looking wedge heels in the same color as my shirt. My hair is smooth and brushed. I feel polished, way too shiny to be alive. I feel like some little girl's new doll.

I touch the decorative pillow beside me. _Why am I here? Why am I alive?_

My thoughts are interrupted by the wall voice. "You match will be here in one minute," the voice announces.

"Match?" I ask, jumping up.

"Your match will be her in 59 seconds," the voice informs me.

The voice doesn't seem to want to tell me anything, so I start pacing around the room.

I examine the floor panels as I step on them. The material is sort of plastic-like to the touch, but looks more like frosted glass. I ponder this. It's not like there's anything else to think about.

"Your match will be here in 30 seconds," the voice informs me.

_Match. What match? What is a match? Is this "love planet" trying to set me up with someone? _I wonder.

_ I don't want to be set up with someone. I don't want a match._

_ I don't want a match. I don't want a match. I don't want a match. _I repeat over and over in my head.

"Your match will be here in 10 seconds."

_I don't want a match._

"Your match will be here in 5 seconds."

_I don't want a match._

"Your match will be here in 1 second."

_I DON'T WANT A MATCH!_

"Your match is here."

I gulp and look around slowly.

"Hello," greets a voice from the couch, "you must be Rose. You look lovely," it continues,

On the loveseat, in the same spot I woke up, is a man.

He's an attractive man, I'll give him that. He has dark hair that falls into his eyes and bright green eyes. He looks sort of like how I imagined my future husband when I was a little kid.

Actually, he looks exactly like the man I described to my best mate, Shareen, when we were kids. I can almost taste the popcorn in my mouth from the bowl in front of us. I can practically feel the fleecy inside of my pink and purple floral sleeping bag and smell the neon pink nail polish on my nails. I can hear 11-year-old Shareen's cheery child's voice, asking what I thought my husband would look like.

The man in front of me is the man I described.

Creepy.

The man holds out his hand, wanting me to shake it. "You look lovely, Rose," he compliments.

I keep my hand firmly at my side. "Who are you?" I ask warily.

"My name is Carlos Morrier. Please, sit," he motions to the spot next to him on the love seat.

The strange thing is, I want to sit with him. I want to grab his outstretched hand and sit beside him and have him wrap his arms around me. I can see it in my head, a vivid picture of us together, happy.

_No. I don't want a match. I don't want Carlos Morrier. _I shake my head, trying to get rid of the image of Carlos and me.

He sees the headshake and stands up. He's right in front of me. I step back.

He steps takes a step towards me and grabs my hand. I pull it out of his grasp and step away again.

"What would you like to do, Miss Tyler?" he inquires flirtatiously.

"Uh, I'm, um, hungry, so can I, um, go back to my room now?" I ask nervously. I'm hoping he'll say yes and I can go back to the bedroom and try to escape.

He puts an arm around me. "You're hungry? Let's eat then!" he exclaims.

"No I-" I begin.

He cuts me off. "Come. We can have any food you want."

He steers me to the other side of the room. Three floor panels rise up and make a hovering table and two platforms on either side of it that I assume are for us to sit on. He lets go of me and sits on one of the seats. I gingerly perch myself on the edge of the other one.

"What kind of food would you like?" he asks.

"Oh, I'm not really-"

"Erghazinioid?" he asks. A large platter of some sort of greenish meat appears on the table. After a moment, I realize _Erghazinioid _must be some foreign type of food.

He rattles off a long list of things I don't recognize. Every time he says another alien kind of food, the meal on the platter changes.

"Uh, can we have human food please? Like, Earth food?" I ask awkwardly.

"Earthen food? Sure! What kind? We can have roast beef, steak, any kind of salad…"

He goes on and on and I begin to get bored. I figure I have to choose something eventually.

"Do you like fish? We could have fish stew, clam chowder, fish fingers and custard, fish and chips-"

"Um, sure, fish and chips," I interrupt.

His face lights up. "Sure! I love fish and chips!" The platter is replaced by two steaming plates of fried fish fillets and chips. "What would you like to drink? Lemonade, a milkshake, or maybe something a bit more… risky?" he asks, winking.

"I'll just have water," I respond.

He shrugs. "Water it is then," he sighs. A glass of heart shaped ice cubes pops up in front of me and slowly fills with water. A straw appears beside the glass.

He digs into his food enthusiastically. I slowly twirl my straw around in my water.

"Are you going to eat anything?" he asks me after a couple of minutes.

I gaze at the plate in front of me. _Should I eat it? Is it poisoned? _I wonder.

I decide to stay on the safe side for now. "I'm actually a bit tired. Do you think we could… try again later or something?"

"Oh, I don't want to make you unhappy. Of course you can go back to your room if you feel the need to. I hope you're not too tired for dinner tonight, though," he responds.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure, I'm up for dinner." I don't really want to go, but something in the back of my mind tells me not to get on his bad side.

He reaches for one of the tulips in the vase, which is near where we are eating. "These flowers are great, aren't they," he remarks, bringing one towards us.

I nod, wondering where this is going.

"They smell really nice," he continues, bringing the flower to a spot just under my nose.

I nod sleepily before leaning back and falling off my chair.


	9. 8: Screaming at the Walls

**_Hey guys! So I originally wrote a part where the Doctor wakes up in a bedroom (like Rose did). It was pretty much the same as Rose's experience, though, so I decided to cut that part out. Just pretend he woke up in the bedroom and has a similar experience as Rose. _**

**Doctor's POV:**

_Sleeping? Why am I sleeping? I barely ever sleep! _I wonder before I even open my eyes.

I'm on a white couch in a white room. The red tulips in the corner are a splash of color on a blank canvas, but this is still too colorless to feel comfortable. Too perfect.

I look down at myself. I've got a red and white striped suit on, of all colors. Red and white! I cross my arms and hope who or whatever is in charge of this room can see that I am not amused.

As if on cue, the room interface awakens. "Your match will be here in one minute."

"Match?" I ask.

The interface doesn't respond.

-_-One minute later-_

There is a silhouette on the couch beside me.

It has a humanoid shape, but the skin color, hair, and facial features are switching and changing so fast I can barely see anything besides a colorful blur.

The shape makes a small blip noise and disappears. The room interface begins talking to me again.

"Minor glitches occurring. Please report to the Office." A panel slides open in the wall.

I stride over to the small room behind the panel. "Take me to your leader!" I holler confidently.

**Rose's POV:**

I pound on the clean white. "LET ME OUT!" I shout.

"Please pick out a dress, Rose Tyler," responds the ever-present wall voice. The screen that showed up on the wall a couple minutes ago blinks it's display, as if trying to remind me that it's there.

"I DON'T CARE!" I scream at it.

The screen blinks again.

I groan and drag myself over to the screen. Normally, I would be excited by the row of crimson dresses on the screen. I know that they're pretty dresses, but that knowledge seems distant and unimportant.

"Please choose a dress, Rose Tyler," the wall instructs me.

I sigh and tap on one at random. "Are you happy now?" I ask the wall, annoyed.

"Please come, Rose Tyler," the voice says as the wall-cubicle I went into earlier.

"NO!" I shriek, remembering how I passed out in there.

"Please come, Rose Tyler."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" I yell as an invisible force shoves me forward. The wall closes and I sink to the floor.

**_ Sorry this chapter was kind of short, but I just had to have a cliffhanger. Please don't throw your electronic device at the wall or go insane because you want to read more ;)_**


	10. 9: Loveulator is a Dumb Word

**_Hey guys! So I just want to say THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH all of you who comment, favorite, and/or follow this fanfic. Even the people who just took a couple of minutes out of their day to read this fanfic, you are all AWESOME. Seriously, all of you make me sooooooooooo happy thank you so much. _**

**_Okay, you can read the chapter now. _**

**Doctor's POV:**

The cubicle door opens, revealing a long hallway with glowing walls, not unlike the floor of the room with the loveseat. It looks like luxaes, a rare glowing metal from the planet Meronan. Out of habit, I reach my hand over to get my sonic to scan it, but find only silky fabric.

I march down the hallway until I reach dead end. The wall in front of me slides open, revealing a long table with twelve shocked looking men seated around it.

"Who-who are you?" one of them, a dark haired slightly plump one, stutters after a moment.

"I am the Doctor. The oncoming storm," I announce, "and I would like my coat back."

The man stares at me, trying to decide whether to be afraid or not.

Another man stands up, this one skinnier and with lighter hair, realization dawning on his face. "You're the one who had problems with loveulator number 367! We had to hold up 9-" the man next to him claps a hand over the first man's mouth, cutting off whatever he was about to reveal.

"What is a loveulator? Like, seriously, loveulator? That sounds like something an 8 year old came up with. Honestly, people."

The men's shock melts into confusion. The one who first asked me who I was seems to regain his composure. "Sir, you're going to have to come with me," he commands, motioning towards the door.

I take the seat he just left and lean back. "Oh, you don't know what to do with me, do you? You've never had a problem with your interface before, have you?" I guess.

"We…we," the man splutters.

_Loveulator. _"You're trying to simulate love. You wanted me to fall in love with your Loveulator. But how…" I trail off, thinking for a moment.

The man looks like he's going to say something.

"AHA!" I shout, "You're trying to take a memory of someone or something I love. A person that brings only happiness. Not even a twinge of sadness. But the interface couldn't find anything in me that fits that criteria, could it? I don't have any memories of love that don't involve great sorrow. Yeah, I just guessed your whole plan, didn't I? I love it when I do that."

The men gape at me before conferring in a tight circle. After a few minutes, one of them steps out of the group. "Please come to the holding cells," he commands.

"Cells? You think I'll actually willingly get put in a cell? I-" the wind is knocked out of me as a forceful air current propels me forward. "Of course you're going to push me all the way there. Can I at least have my suit back?" The men don't answer.

The door clangs shut behind me and I continue being pushed forward.

_-A lot of hallways later-_

The cell is small, maybe a 49 square foot cube. The walls are made of luxaes, and the opening I was sent through closes behind me, making me feel like I'm trapped in a large cube. There is a small panel with glowing icons on the wall. I tap on an icon of a sleeping person and a small bed with white bedding folds out of the wall. I'm about to sit on the bed when I hear a quiet voice coming from behind one of the walls.

"Hello?" the voice says tentitavely. It's a girl's voice, she can't be more than 15.

I kneel next to the wall. "Hello? What's you're name?" I ask.

"Cleo. Cleo Marineta. Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. How did you get here, Cleo?"

"My boyfriend told me to wait here for him. He'll come back for me soon."

"Well, Cleo Marineta, I'm going to get you out of here."

'Oh, I don't need you do. Andy will come for me."

Charles must be a loveulator. "Why did Andy leave you here?" I question.

"We were on a date. He said I had to come here while he prepared a surprise for me. I'm not worried."

"You've got to be a little worried."

"But I'm not! Andy will come for me. I know it."

"Did Andy say what the surprise was?"

"He said he would take me to the generator."

"Generator?"

"The generator. He said it's the place where love goes."

_The generator. The place where love goes. Oh god. I didn't figure out the whole plan before. _

This planet is run on love. Literally. They create love and suck it out of people.

That's what they want to do to Rose.

And it's my fault.


	11. 10: Madness is a Slow Descent

**Doctor's POV:**

Most people wouldn't be able to tell time here, in a place with no clocks or natural light. My Timelord instincts tell me that it has been about a week.

Cleo was taken 2 days ago. I banged on the wall when they came for her, trying to stop them, but she told me not to worry. She said Andy was there. I told her Andy wasn't real. She told me I didn't understand, and that I should be happy for her.

I never saw what she looked like. But somehow, I can see her face in the last moment before she was stripped of her soul, I can see how she realized, with her last breath, that I was right.

How many people have been killed to keep this planet looking nice? How many lives were taken purely because of small fights with their loved ones?

I remember the day we first arrived here. How I trudged angrily through the woods and the garden while Rose danced around, exclaiming about the beauty of the place. She loved the smell of the roses.

People were killed to make those roses. That whole planet is an illusion made of love, manufactured love, at the cost of thousands of lives.

The roses of death.

I remember the blue girl. She is probably dead now. We never even learned her name. For all I know, she could have been Cleo.

I sit in this prison all day, pondering love and life and thinking of all the people I ever loved. They're all dead now. Dead, or lost their memories, or have moved on from me. Is it my destiny to be alone? To wander forever among the stars, completely free, but always lonely? A man who has the entire universe but no one to share it with?

I always end up alone. Maybe it would be better if I just stayed that way forever, spared myself the inevitable pain of losing the people I love.

**Rose's POV:**

It could have been weeks since I was first brought here. Months. Years. Or maybe it has been only minutes. Maybe this is all just a dream. Maybe the last 50 years have all been a dream, and any second now I'll wake up in my room on the TARDIS, and I'll run to the Doctor and hug him and he'll take me somewhere amazing.

I wish I could believe this was all a dream.

But I know it's not.

Madness is a long, dark path, a labyrinth I am slowly wandering through. I have become a doll. I let them dress me up in pretty little outfits. I allow them to curl my hair, to paint my face with makeup and sprinkle moisturizers on my skin. I laugh at Carlos's jokes like a good girl, I let him kiss me and hold me and run his hands through my hair. And all the while, I don't even know who it is who's making me do this. I don't even really care anymore.

At first, I put up a fight. I kicked and screamed, I expressed my hatred for Carlos. I kept my sanity alive with a glimmer of hope, a tiny flame of faith that told me the Doctor was coming. But he's not. I know that now. He could be dead by now, or maybe he's forgotten me.

I was warned. Mum begged me not to go with him. Mickey tried to hold me back. Even Shareen, the rebel, who liked to take me to go shopping and look at boys instead of going to school, told me that the Doctor would hurt me. But I went anyway.

Maybe I should have listened to them. Maybe I should have known that we all get left behind in the end. That we're just a long list of people the Doctor has failed, Sarah Jane and Martha and Donna and now me. That we all wither and die and the Doctor moves on, finds another temporary traveling companion.

Maybe I'll be stuck here forever, never aging, never dying, forever just a doll, descending into madness. The thought doesn't scare me anymore.

It's not like I have anything out there to live for.


	12. 11: I'm the Doctor

**_Hey guys. So I realized that in the last 2 chapters, I forgot to say happy Valentines Day! So yeah, happy late Valentines Day! Sadly, the Doctor and Rose are in no position for a nice, fluffy Valentines Day chapter, which I'm disappointed about _****_L_****_ But anyway, stay awesome guys! Even if you're forever alone… like me… OK YEAH GUYS IM DATING MY COMPUTER FINE!_**

**_LOL I'm in a weird mood today._**

**_Yeah I'm just going to stop this author's note now._**

**Doctor's POV: **

I barely even know who I am anymore.

I've been here for a week and a half. The cell takes exactly 8.14545 repeated size 9 Converse High Tops to cross. Each wall and floor panel is about 3x1.5 of the same shoes. I have measured everything and pressed every button in the room out of sheer boredom. I've tried to converse with the room interface, who I've named Shelia, I've wondered for hours whether Converse (the shoe) and converse (the verb) have anything to do with each other, and I've found 304 new ways to do my hair, all of which look ridiculous. I've sat on my bed and though about Gallifrey and nightmares and Rose Tyler until my tears made a small puddle on the floor and Shelia the computer, who recommended some sort of depression therapy done by an orange reptilian species on the planet of Lutesnia, which I happen to have been kicked out of a couple years back because of a misunderstanding about frogs.

I begin my day by moping in the corner wondering how the TARDIS is doing without me. I turn this over in my mind for several hours, and I probably would've for longer if I wasn't interrupted by a woman showing up in my cell.

She has dark hair that falls in perfect waves to her shoulders. Her features are sharp and angular, and the bloodred lipstick on her thin lips doesn't make her look very friendly, and neither do her dark eyes, which gleam with a deep fire of hatred and love of power.

Her clothes are impractical, she wears scarlet-colored floor length evening gown and stiletto heels of the same color. Her nails are long and painted red sprinkled with silver glitter, and she wears a matching silver necklace, bracelet, and earrings, all adorned with twinkling silver hearts.

"I suppose you've figured out how this planet works by now, haven't you?"

"Yes. And I don't approve of it."

She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She backs me against the wall and I can smell her perfume, the same scent as the roses in the garden where Rose and I disappeared. Her face is inches from mine. "You're a clever one. I've decided to make a proposal: you can join my team and help me rule this planet. You'll make more money than you could ever imagine. What do you say?" she whispers in my ear.

"No," I respond without hesitation.

The woman is shocked. She regains her composure after a moment, "No?" she hisses.

I look her straight in the eye. "No."

"Well then, we have no further use for you. 24 hours from now, this room will be filled with gas and you will suffocate," she heads to a panel in the wall, which slides open.

"WAIT!" I yell after her.

She turns with a smirk on her face. "Rethinking your decision?"

"No. But I do want one last wish."

She sighs. "Fine," she says, rolling her eyes, "what do you want?"

"Can I have my suit back?"

She raises a thin eyebrow. "Your last wish is a suit?"

"Well it's a very nice suit!" I exclaim, getting slightly defensive.

"Your suit will be here in one hour," she calls back to me as the wall slides shut behind her.

_-One hour later-_

After untying and retying my shoelaces 27 times, a wall panel opens and a large brown coat shoots out and hits me in the face, followed by a dark brown striped suit and a blue collared shirt. A brown and blue necktie flutters after the suit and the panel closes.

I untangle myself from the pile of clothes and immediately change into them. I run a hand through my hair to make it fluff up a bit. I slide my hand into one of the many pockets in my coat.

It's still there.

I grin and pull out my sonic screwdriver. "Oh you beauty!" I exclaim.

"Hey Shelia!" I yell at the ceiling.

"Yes?"

"I need to talk to Rose Tyler."

"I'm sorry, but you are not authorized to communicate with subject 5,965. Please-" she is cut off by my screwdriver, which I aim at the ceiling.

"Am I authorized now?"

"Please wait while room 266 is contacted, sir."

I'm the Doctor. And I'm coming for you, Rose Tyler.


	13. 12: Plans Never Work

**_Hey guys! So it took me a while to write this chapter, I know. I was… ummm… busy… with… ummm… homework. _**

**_Okay fine, I was having huge writers block, so I was pretty much sitting on my couch playing videogames and teaching myself how to imitate a Welsh accent (AKA watching waaaay too much Torchwood) _**

**_But I'm back now, so yaaaaaay!_**

**Rose's POV:**

I pick at the fluff in the carpet boredly. The wall-voice turns on, probably to remind me to pick out a dress for my date with Carlos tonight.

"I'm not interested!" I yell before the wall can even begin to talk.

"Rose?" it asks. It's a different voice than usual. _Is that…?_

"Doctor?"

"Rose!" he cries, his voice full of sheer joy.

"Doctor!" I exclaim, equally happy.

"You're okay!"

"Have you found a way to get out?"

He sighs heavily. "It'll be hard, Rose. I'm a prisoner here. Just stay where you are. And whatever you do, don't show any affection to who or whatever is flirting with you right now. They'll send you here if you do," he warns.

"Why-"

"Rose, I have to go. Just… I'll get you out. Remember, no flirting."

"Doctor, what are you not telling me?" I ask.

"I-"

"Don't lie."

He sighs again. "My execution is scheduled for tomorrow."

"Doctor-" the interface shuts off before I can respond.

I know what I have to. "Wall?"

"Yes, Rose Tyler?" It's back to it's normal voice.

"Bring Carlos here. I need to tell him something."

_-5 minutes later-_

"Carlos!" I exclaim like an infatuated little girl. I hug him as soon as he exits the wall-cubicle.

"Rose! I thought we weren't meeting until dinner! Not that I'm unhappy to see you" he says flirtatiously, putting his hands on my cheeks.

I fight the urge not to cringe away from him. "Oh Carlos, I just wanted to tell you that I love you. I love you so, so much, and I would do anything for you."

He grins. "Well then, darling, I love you too." He kisses me passionately, which I'm used to by now. "You know…" he begins after a minute.

"Yes?"

"Let's skip dinner tonight. I want to go somewhere with you right now. You'll love it."

"Oh, yes please!"

He leads me to the wall cubicle, which suddenly has room for two. I bounce a bit, hoping I'm not overdoing it.

The Doctor told me not to go wherever he is. He said I would end up there if I flirted with Carlos.

I guess I'm just not that good at following his orders.

**Doctor's POV:**

22 hours 58 minutes and 37 seconds until my execution. 36,35, 34, 33…

"Doctor?" says a voice. A familiar voice.

Did I just hear…? No, I can't have. Must be my imagination_. _25, 24, 23, 22…

"Doctor!"

"Rose?" I ask tentatively.

"I'm here. I'm going to get us out of here."

"Rose, I told you to stay… Rose, you can't be here! They'll take you!"

"I had to come."

"Rose-" Suddenly, the sickeningly sweet, overpowering smell of modified roses fills the cell. My vision becomes blurry and I slump against the wall, unconscious.

_-Later-_

I wake up to the smell of too much perfume.

The woman's face is inches from mine.

One of her hands is on the wall next to me and the other is propping up my chin. She's looking me straight in the eye, and her intense gaze makes me want to cringe

"Think you could get by me that easily, could you?" she hisses.

I fumble for my sonic, only to find that I'm not wearing my trench coat anymore. I'm back in the white and red suit. She notices my movement and smiles.

"You're little device is being examined right now. As are the rest of the… trinkets we found in your pockets," she explains with a wicked grin.

"Honestly, a screwdriver, a blank piece of paper, and some random odds and ends aren't anything to examine," I try to convince her. _Not my best lie._

"Don't play it stupid. You were in possession of a sonic device, a piece of psychic paper, pockets that are bigger on the inside, and several other suspicious possessions. What planet are you from?"

"I'm human," I lie.

The woman looks up at the ceiling. "Take him to the labs," she orders the computer voice. She scrapes my chin with a long red fingernail as she stands up.

The rose scent fills the room and I collapse on the floor.


	14. 13: Do I?

**_Hi! No author's note this time!  
Oh wait this technically is an author's note._**

**_Well this is awkward._**

**_Well, since I've started an author's note, I might as well say that yes, I know this update is kind of late (in my time zone it's 9:30 PM)_**

**_I say "well" a lot._**

**_That's interesting._**

**_Ok now I'm getting off topic so I'll just end this author's note._**

**Doctor's POV:**

I hate it when I get chained to tables. Especially when I don't have my shirt on.

Unfortunately, that's what's going on right now.

The table is made of luxaes, as are the chains. They really need an interior designer in here.

A middle-aged man in a white coar stands above me with a stethoscope, looking confused.

"Sir, it appears-" he begins.

"I have two hearts? Yes, I'm aware of that." There's no point in trying to convince them I'm human anymore.

The man jots something down on a clipboard on a tray next to him. I crane my neck to try and see what he's writing, but he angles it away from me.

I lay my head back down. The table is cold and uncomfortable, and I have no pillow to rest my head on. I listen to the ever-present hum of machines in the quiet room. My arms begin to ache from being chained to the table.

I feel something rustle my hair. I hear the snip of scissors and the man places a couple strands of brown hair in a test tube. "Hey!" I exclaim. He ignores me. I glare at the luxaes ceiling.

The man takes a cheek cell sample and a small skin sample. He pricks needles into my veins to extract blood and shines lights in my eyes. When he's done, he pours a sickeningly sweet liquid down my throat and rolls his cart away. My eyelids droop and my thoughts get slow and sticky, like molasses. _Hmmmm, I like molasses…_

_-Later-_

I know she's here before I even open my eyes. The red dress woman.

She stands over me, her eyes glittering villainously. "Our machines couldn't identify your species," she informs me.

"I'm not surprised," I answer.

"What are you?" she interrogates.

"I'm the Doctor," I reply.

"Well, if you want to do it the hard way," she smiles coldly, sending shivers down my spine.

A mechanical arm holding a knife slides out from the side of the table. The knife positions itself on my chest and lowers down slowly, stopping when a tiny dot of scarlet blood wells up around it. I cry out in pain and shock. The woman's smile widens.

"Why… are… you… doing… this?" I ask through gritted teeth. Although I know the answer. She wants to know about me, she wants to cut me open, take me apart, see what's inside.

Sometimes one of the things I love most about humans, their curiosity, is also their biggest flaw.

"Who are you?" she asks in response.

"I'm the Doctor," I tell her.

She purses her lips and snaps her fingers. The knife retracts. "I'll be back in twelve hours. And if you don't cooperate, we'll have to use a… different tactic."

**Rose's POV:**

I rub my eyes drowsily. "Doctor?" I ask.

No answer.

"Doctor?" I ask louder, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

Silence.

"DOCTOR!" I scream frantically. I pound on the wall hysterically.

A wall panel slides open. A woman steps in.

She's wearing a long red dress that fits her slender frame perfectly. Her dark, wavy hair is perfect, as is her bloodred lipstick, which stands out against her pale skin. She reminds me of a vampire, the kind that seduces her victims into trusting her before sucking all the blood out of their bodies. She looks beautiful, but she radiates a feeling that makes you want to scuttle away and hide.

"Where is he?" I demand, trying to sound unafraid.

"Oh, he's being subject to our… hospitality," she answers in a way that makes it obvious that their "hospitality" isn't a good thing.

"WHERE IS HE? TAKE ME TO HIM!" I demand.

The woman looks unimpressed with my outburst. "You love him, don't you?" she asks.

I feel like I've just been hit by a horde of rampaging cybermen. I try to look calm. "No," I lie. Or am I telling the truth? Do I love him? Does he love me? I'm not sure anymore.

She purses her lips and I can't tell if she believed me or not. She turns to leave the room. I grab her arm.

"Take me to him," I command.

She wrenches her arm free. "Oh, you'll be seeing him soon enough," she tells me as she sashays out of the room, which is somehow not reassuring at all.

I should be worried. I should be coming up with an escape plan.

But the woman's question voice echoes in my mind. _Do I love him? I did. I broke through the fabric of reality for him._

_ But he rejected me._

_ But he's saving me now, isn't he? Doesn't that mean something?_

_ No. He's the Doctor. He saves everyone._

_ Am I becoming just another part of his past? There were always those people that we would meet, save, and leave, hopefully with them safe and happy. Those people were great. Are great. They were strong. Brave. Good. Deserved to be saved._

_ But I was something more. _

_ I remember when we met Sarah Jane and I asked him if I was going to end up like her. Abandoned._

_ He said no. Not me. _

_ I felt special. Like I was something to him that no one else was._

_ Maybe I wasn't. Maybe he says that to everyone._

_ He cried when we said goodbye. He barely ever cries._

_ Does that mean something?_

_ Maybe it doesn't._

_ Or maybe he did love me. Once. But not now._

_ I could have ended the universe. The hole still isn't closed._

_ But did I do it for him or me?_

_ Do I love him? Does he love me?_

_ 50 years is a long time._

_ Maybe there never was anything between us. Maybe I'm just being naïve, riding on fantasies of something that'll never happen._

_ Do I or do I not?_

**_Soooooo, uh, that was the chapter._**

**_Yep that got kind of… heavy at the end there._**

**_Like seriously I was writing and then I took a break and watched some Doctor Who and then BOOM Rose got all depressed._**

**_Well anyway ITS DA WEEKEND SO I CAN WRITE MORE BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TO WRITE POETRY ABOUT MITOSIS YAY! (my science teacher is a weird guy)_**

**_So yeah expect an update tomorrow. _**


	15. 14: I'm Sorry

**_Hey guys! Update! I know, I said I'd post a chapter yesterday, but I got writers block again _****_L_****_. But the chapter is up now (obviously), so you may end your silent vigil of staring at your story alerts in a deprived delirium, waiting for your only solace in life…_**

**_Yeah IDK where that last part came from._**

**_Speaking of solaces, I ship Solangelo and you should too._**

**_I have no idea why I just announced that._**

**_Well, it's not really an announcement if it's in writing, is it?  
Ooooh I said "well" again._**

**_Yeah this is weird I'll just go now._**

**Doctor's POV:**

They didn't put me to sleep this time. They probably want me to have time to be scared into giving her information about myself.

I don't need to have time. I already know I'm going to give it to her.

She'll want me to work for her. She'll force me to travel through time, building new love planets powered by the souls of innocent people, just to make… money.

And that's the craziest thing about this place: it's a tourist trap. It's here so couples will come here on their honeymoons, or just on dates if they have a ton of money.

This whole thing, this whole sucking love out of people to fuel the planet process, is just so a few select people can become billionaires. Trillionaires, even. And I'm not even sure if trillionaire is a word.

I don't want to work for them. I'd honestly rather die than be stuck working for them forever.

But she'll make me. She can make me do anything.

She has Rose.

I try to wriggle out of the chains but I know it's no use.

If I don't tell them who I am, they'll kill us.

They'll kill her.

Somehow, all I can think about is her. I'd rather die than work for Planeta Amore, but I don't care about that. I'm going to work for them anyway.

I would do anything for Rose Tyler to be safe.

And life here isn't even safe. But it's the closest I can get.

If I'd never met her, she would be safe at home. She would live a long, satisfying life, maybe get married and have kids. Who knows, she could've become Rose Smith.

With Mickey Smith, that is. Not John Smith.

Rose would be happy without me.

Now that she's been in the TARDIS, though, I know she'll never be okay without me. Even if I somehow get us out of here alive, I'll have to take her with me. She's immortal. She belongs with me.

She once told me that before me, she had nothing. She had nothing and she didn't even know it.

She's wrong.

She had everything before me. She had a mother, a job, a boyfriend, a home…

But then I decided to take her with me. I thought I could show her everything. All the wonder, the beauty of the universe. The things that inspired me to steal a TARDIS and go off on an adventure to see the stars. _This time, _I thought, _this time I won't mess up._

But I was wrong. I'm always wrong.

A single tear rolls down my cheek. I watch it plummet toward the luxaes floor. I can almost see Rose's face in the droplet, like a reflection, except Rose isn't anywhere near me.

The tear hits the ground and splatters, obstructing the image of Rose's face.

I think back to that fight we had when she summoned me.

I never forgave her.

Another tear splashes on the floor.

_I forgive you._

Two more tears.

_I'm sorry. For everything._

A tiny puddle, maybe an inch in diameter, is forming on the floor.

_I thought we could be forever._

The tears flow from my eyes freely. The puddle on the floor grows. I lay down on the table and close my eyes.

_I love you._

**_Soooooooo… that was very… melancholy._**

**_Since when did I use the word melancholy?_**

**_I know, that was a short chapter. And nothing really happened in it. Pretty much all that chapter did was make me scream "THE FEELS!" at my ceiling._**

**_I actually have the next chapter almost written so it should come out soon (hopefully)._**

**_In the meantime, stay away from angel statues, dolls that sing about clocks, cracks in walls, automatons in pre-revolutionary France, and moving shadows._**


	16. 15: It Hurts

**_Hey guys!_**

**_So I know I said this before, but I just want to thank you all again for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following and all that stuff YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!_**

**_Also, I realized I never put a disclaimer (slow clap for me XD)_**

**_I don't own Doctor Who. _**

**_So yeah there's a disclaimer._**

**_I don't really think those are necessary because WHO WRITES FANFICTION IF THEY OWN THE THING THEY'RE WRITING ABOUT?!_**

**_But there's a disclaimer anyway._**

**_And yes, I know I haven't updated in a week. I was trying to write on Wednesday but I was listening to John Barrowman music while writing and I ended up writing Janto fanfiction (Torchwood! _****_J) instead of this fanfic._**

**_*** I know this chapter was already up but I had to delete it to fix something. So yeah here it is again I changed the first part (before the time skip) a tiny bit. So yeah just reread that part or something***_**

**_Ok bye._**

**Doctor's POV:**

I open my eyes when I hear the click of heels on the luxaes floor.

She's here.

She stands beside the luxaes table and looks at me. Her cold eyes bore into me. "Have you decided cooperate?" she asks.

"Yes."

Her eyes sparkle with satisfaction. "Well what are you then?"

An image of Rose fills my mind. _I'm doing this for her._

"I'm a Timelord."

I expect her to be surprised. But she doesn't. Instead, she looks up at the ceiling.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT?" she calls to the ceiling.

The ceiling responds.

In a very familiar voice.

"Doctor! Doctor!" it exclaims in it's mechanical voice.

Oh no.

No.

No!

The woman leans close to me so I can smell her the sickening fragrance of her perfume.

"Well then, Doctor, lets go on a date," she says, leering at me, "I'm going to take you to see the death of Rose Tyler."

And for once in my life, I have nothing to say. I can only stare at the ceiling in horror.

_-5 minutes later-_

"Doctor!" Rose exclaims, her eyes filled with tears. She's handcuffed to a white chair, not unlike the kind dentists seat their patients in.

"Rose!" I call, trying to push myself forward in the luxaes chair I'm chained to, which is unfortunately attached to the ground.

I look to the red dress woman, who's standing nonchalantly about ten feet from Rose's chair. The men in suits that I barged in on on my first day here are standing in a semicircle behind her, watching the scene emotionlessly, awaiting orders.

"Please," I beg her.

Yes. The great Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, is begging. Pleading for the life of Rose Tyler.

The woman smiles. "No," she answers. She watches my horrified reaction with a cruel satisfaction. She turns to one of the men behind her. "Perform the injection," she orders. He obediently pickes up a tray from a nearby table. On the tray is a syringe filled with some sort of red liquid. He positions the needle next to Rose's arm.

"Wait! Give us five minutes! Please!" I exclaim.

The man looks to the woman for instructions. She contemplates my request.

"Fine," she consents after a moment, "But five minutes only. Your time begins now."

My chains and her handcuffs disappear, and we run towards each other. She buries her face in my shoulder. Luxaes walls come up from the floor, creating a small room for us to be in. One of the luxaes walls displays a timer. _4:59_.

"Rose…" I don't know what to say. I want to tell her that I'll save her and that it'll all be okay.

But that would be a lie.

She looks me in the eye. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" she asks.

I have to tell her the truth. "Yes," I answer, tears rolling down my cheeks.

She puts her arms around me. "It's okay. You'll escape and find another companion. You'll move on," she consoles me.

"I could never move on after you."

"You probably think that about all your companions."

I grab her hand. "I've lost a lot of people, it's true. And I still see them every time I close my eyes. Their deaths haunt me, Rose. But you're different. Your death won't haunt me, it will destroy me," I tell her.

She snatches her hand away. "Don't do this to me!" she yells, "Can't you see that the only thing keeping me calm is the belief that you don't love me? The thought that even if I do survive, you'll just drop me off somewhere? Now that I've seen everything you've showed me, I can never go back to a normal life."

"Rose, I wouldn't-"

"And even if you did take me with you, it would never be like it was. We would always have something driving us apart, because you can't forgive me for breaking a hole in reality. You'll never return my feelings for you. It will torture me, kill me slowly. Dying here is better."

She thinks I don't love her. I lift her chin up so she is looking into my eyes. "Rose Tyler, I-"

"NO!" she screams. She sinks to the floor, shaking. I kneel down beside her.

"Rose-" I begin.

"It hurts, Doctor, it hurts. Having feelings. Being human. It hurts."

I wrap my arms around her. "Feelings are the only thing we have," I murmur into her ear.

The walls around us begin to slide down. Panic flashes in her eyes. She presses her lips against mine, our tears mixing together on our cheeks. "Goodbye, Doctor," she whispers as we're pulled apart by two of the men in suits. Her fingers slip from my grasp.

It's time.

**_Cliffhanger! And intense feels (I almost started crying while writing this)! You guys just love me, don't you? :P_**

**_Oh, and yes IcyEnderWolf, that was a Doomsday reference _****_J_**


	17. 16: Falling Through the Light

**_HELLO IM BACK YAY._**

**_I have no idea what to write in this author's note._**

**_Bye._**

**Doctor's POV:**

Luxaes handcuffs close over Rose's wrists and ankles. I lunge forward before they chain me but it's no use. Three men force me into my chair and chain me to it. I try to look at their faces, remember who killed Rose Tyler, but all I can see is blurred colors through the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Inject her," the woman orders.

Anger and despair fight for control inside me as the syringe-holding man plunges the needle into Rose's arm and empties the syringe. Rose lets out an anguished scream.

And then, her face is suddenly calm.

More than calm. She looks happy, like she's smelled something particularly pleasant. She smiles contentedly and looks at the red dress woman.

The woman puts on a plastic-looking smile. "Who do you love?" she asks Rose.

"John Smith," Rose replies. She notices me in my chair. Her eyes light up with delight. "John!" she exclaims. She seems to not notice the chains on my arms and legs or the horrified expression on my face. She smiles at me, a big, happy smile that I would normally love to see.

Sorrow overcomes me_. _This is how they get people to only think of love while they suck the emotions out of them. She's even forgotten that I'm the Doctor.

It seems wrong, somehow, that Rose had such an amazing personality and she doesn't even get to die with it.

**Rose's POV:**

The woman in front of me is wearing a very pretty dress. I would like a dress like that. Maybe John will buy me one. Oh look, there he is. He looks handsome today. He always looks good, but today he looks just smashing in a white suit with a red collar. I want to kiss him. I want to go over there and kiss him right now. I try to get up, but I find that I can't move my wrists and ankles. I look down and find handcuffs. They're kind of pretty, shiny and… glowy. That's a nice word, glowy. Glowy glowy glowy glowy glowy. I look back at John. He doesn't look happy to see me. Why isn't he happy?

_ Chains,_ a little voice in the back of my head whispers.

Yes, John is wearing chains. They look good on him. Everything looks good on him.

The pretty woman says something to a man next to her. There are a lot of men next to her. They're good looking, but not nearly as good as John. John is the best.

_Evil,_ the voice whispers. Evil? Evil not a happy word. "Bad little voice," I scold. Several of the men give me weird looks. I giggle.

Something above me lights up. It's a pretty light, all bright and warm. The light moves closer and closer. "Hello," I greet it.

_Doctor, _the voice whispers. Doctor? What doctor?

_Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor._

And then it all comes back.

You know when you're taking a bath and you put your head underwater and everything becomes muffled? And then when you take you're head out of the water, all the sounds rush back. That's how I feel now, except it's not sounds. It's thoughts. I suddenly comprehend my surroundings, realize that I'm handcuffed to a chair and handcuffs aren't bracelets, realize that the Doctor's name is not John Smith, and that his chains aren't a fashion statement, and why he isn't happy, and how bad he looks in that suit. I recall what the red dress woman did to me.

I remember that the "pretty light" above me is about to suck out my soul and use it to fuel and intergalactic vacation spot for lovers.

I transfer my gaze to the Doctor. I look into his eyes. "I love you," I whisper.

He thrashed around in his chains, trying to get out.

The Doctor is the most free person I've ever met, traveling among the stars with a time machine and an entire universe to explore. Is he really going to die in chains?

_The Doctor should be free._

It's only five words. Twenty two letters. It's just a spark.

But sparks make fire.

_The Doctor should be free. The Doctor should be free. The Doctor should be free. THE DOCTOR SHOULD BE FREE! _I chant it over and over in my head. It fills me up, blocks everything else out. I become those five words. They become a battle cry. A plea. A prayer.

I pour all my emotions into those five words. My anger, my hatred towards this planet, this woman, and everything that has tried to harm the people that are close to me. My loneliness and despair from my parents dying in the parallel universe. I see myself standing at mum's funeral, tears rolling down my face. I catch those tears and throw them in to the bubbling cauldron of everything I am. _The Doctor should be free. The Doctor should be free._ I see those five words in my mind. I write them in the blood of everyone I've ever seen die. Everyone who's death I'm responsible for. Everyone I love who has died. _The Doctor should be free._

I throw my love into those words. I see the Doctor, hear his voice.

_Rose, before I go, I just want to tell you: you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I._

_Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler. Run._

_Allon-sy!_

_Always bring a banana to a party._

I hear so many things he's said. I see him saying them. I see him laughing. I see him crying. I see him doing that thing where he says all this complicated stuff and is frustrated when you don't understand any of it. I see him.

_There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive… wormhole refractors… You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold._

_ Rose Tyler, I-_

I give those memories to the five words.

_The Doctor should be FREE!_

And.

Then.

The.

Light.

Hits.

Me.

**Doctor's POV:**

The ray of light envelops her. Her eyes glow white. The handcuffs retract. She stretches her arms out and white light floats in streams from her fingertips. The red dress woman smiles wickedly.

And then it happens.

The light grows stronger and stronger. The streams of light trailing her fingers become beams strong enough to pin several of the men in suits to the walls. The red dress woman steps back, her overly red lips forming a shocked O. Fear flashes in her eyes. She's not in control anymore.

Rose opens her mouth and screams. It's a scream of everything. Of love and loss and anger and pain. Of a hundred tears and a hundred smiles.

The white light fills her mouth like it filled her eyes. The scream goes on and the room is filled with the light. The red dress woman and the suit men yelp in pain when the light touches them. When it touches me, it feels like a fuzzy blanket softly cocooning me in warmth. The chains holding me down dissipate.

Suddenly, I'm falling. Falling through the light. A hand emerges from the light next to me. _Rose. _I intertwine my fingers with hers and we're falling together.

**_So I know this might seem like the end of the story but ITS NOT I REPEAT IT'S NOT THE END DON'T WORRY I WILL STILL WRITE A LOT MORE THIS IS NOT THE END OKAY? OKAY. AND NOT IM GOING ALL TFIOS I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING ANYMORE BUT THIS IS NOT THE END._**

**_The next chapter will come out soon._**


	18. 17: Plans Still Don't Work

**_Hey guys! So I just want to acknowledge how far this fanfic has come. I started writing this because I was bored and ship Rose and Ten. I actually wasn't going to make it nearly as exciting as it it (at least I hope you find it exciting). I also only expected like 5 views. _**

**_I have 3,240._**

**_Woah._**

**_So yeah, 3K views, 9 favorites, 25 followers, and 6 reviews, all of which are people telling me about how much they want me to update or how awesome they think my story is. And I know that is nothing in comparison to lots of other fanfics, but to me, who doesn't have an instagram, facebook, or twitter, and has a youtube channel with all of 5 subscribers (all of whom I know), 24 followers is, like, a dream._**

**_Yeah, okay, that's kind of pathetic. Fine. I admit it._**

**_But anyway, I know I've said it before, but THANK YOUUUUUUUU!_**

**_Okay I'm getting all weird and sentimental._**

**_Yeahhhhh… I'm just going to write the chapter now._**

**Doctor's POV:**

_Falling, we were falling…_

Some small plastic object brushes against my skin. More than one, actually. I jerk awake.

Rose is lying beside me, our fingertips just barely touching. I can see her chest rise and fall consistently. She's asleep.

The ground around us is blanketed in small, thin plastic-like strips. They stick up like grass. _Grass._

Of course! The silver grass! Now that Rose has messed with the systems, the illusion of pink trees and silver grass, which was fueled by love, no longer works. This is Planeta Amore in it's true form. A barren planet, manipulated by human technology.

A couple feet in front of me, a metal rod protrudes from the ground. There are a lot of them, actually, a field of them stretching as far as the eye can see. _Those must be the trees!_

This is the clearing we arrived in. Which means…

I whirl around, and there she is. The TARDIS. My TARDIS. I fling open the doors and find her just as I left her. "Miss me, old girl?" I call with a grin.

Rose stirs on the ground outside. Her eyes flutter open. She smiles when she sees me. "Doctor…" she says sleepily. I pull her up and into the TARDIS.

"Where'd that come from?" she asks, pointing to where my trench coat hanging on a hook next to the door.

"You think I would leave my coat without some means of teleporting it back to the TARDIS?"

She laughs and runs her hand down the familiar fabric. "Doctor… what happened? Back there in that room with the light… I remember the light touching me and then… nothing. I was angry. Angry and sad and happy and… every emotion possible, all at the same time."

"You, Rose Tyler, broke the system," I reply, "It wanted love. It wanted emotion. And that's exactly what you gave it. You gave it everything you had and it couldn't handle it. That raw emotion, that pure… pure humanity you forced into it."

"I wasn't even trying to break it. I was just… thinking. Of people I've lost. Of people who've hurt me. Of people I love. Of you."

I let my gaze rest on her for a moment. _Of me?_

I pull my coat off the hook and put it on. "How do I look?" I ask, spinning in a circle with a flourish.

She laughs. "Change the suit."

I look down and remember that I'm still wearing the white and red Planeta Amore suit. "I don't know, I think it sort of works," I remark.

She rolls her eyes shakes her head. She opens her mouth as if to respond, but before she can, she suddenly goes very pale and collapses. "Rose!" I exclaim, pulling out my sonic and kneeling beside her, trying to figure out what's wrong.

**Rose's POV:**

I open my eyes slowly, and even that takes a huge amount of effort.

I'm lying on the floor of the TARDIS. A very worried Doctor is scanning me with his sonic anxiously. "Rose!" he exclaims when he notices my eye's open.

I try to say hi, but my voice is hoarse and tired. "How… long… was… I… unconscious?" I manage to ask.

"About 10 minutes. I'm worried about you, Rose," he answers.

"I'm… fine," I lie. My thoughts are sluggish, and every bone in my body seems to ache.

The Doctor feels my forehead. "No, you're not. You're temperature is at least 100 degrees. Can you try to walk?" he asks.

**_AN: 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I know Doctor Who is British, but I'm American. Also, I've already ignored the metric system by talking about feet and inches (and size 9 Converse), so I'm just going to use American units of measurement because that's what I'm used to. 100 degrees Fahrenheit is 37.778 degrees Celsius. Ok back to the story._**

I nod weakly. He heaves me up into a standing position. I instantly get dizzy and lean against the wall. He puts and arm around me and I lean on him and take a small step forward.

After a lot of difficulty, we make it to my bedroom, which is exactly the way I left it before I… left. I lie down on the bed and put my hand in my head, where I am suffering from a very painful headache.

"Do you need anything?" the Doctor asks, sitting down on the bed beside me.

"It's… too… hot," I complain.

The Doctor pulls a thermometer out of his pocket and puts it in my mouth. Normally, I would ask him why he has a thermometer in his pocket, but I'm in too much pain to care. "How… did… I… get… sick?" I ask.

"Something in the air. They must have had something in the air where we were imprisoned. It probably doesn't work on Timelord immune system," he replies, running a hand through his hair.

"Why?" I question.

"A precaution. In case someone gets out, they won't live to tell the tale. The stuff they were doing in there… the shadow proclamation would not approve of it," he answers. He gets that faraway look in his eyes that he sometimes does, the look that reminds me that he's a 900 year old alien that I don't even know the real name of.

He snaps out of it and turns back to me. "Well, you should probably get some rest," he says, kissing my forehead.

I want to ask him why he had that look in his eyes. I want to talk to him about what we said on Planeta Amore. I want to ask him if he meant it. I try to grab his arm as he turns towards the door, but as soon as I lift my head, a throbbing migraine clouds my thoughts and I fall back onto the pillow.

_-A couple hours later-_

**Doctor's POV:**

I lean against the wall outside Rose's room. She's whimpering in her sleep, and she threw up the small bowl of soup I gave her. The TARDIS doesn't know what's wrong with her, or how to fix it.

_Please don't take her away from me. After all she's done to find me…_

Just then, I hear a soft beeping from the control room. The beeping gets louder and louder as I run to the room.

A red light is flashing on the wall. _Oh no._

The TARDIS needs to refuel.

"Now? You need this now? Couldn't you choose a better time?" I ask incredulously. The TARDIS continues to beep. "Fine. 21st century Cardiff, here we come! Allons-y!"

**_Yes, there will be Torchwood in the next chapter. :D_**


	19. 18: Torchwood Intro Thingy

**_Okay, so this is going to be a very long author's note._**

**_So this chapter, and several future ones (at least I think so. It's the future. Who knows) includes/will include some Torchwood. I guess that technically makes this a crossover, but I'm not going to bother with that, because Torchwood is a spin off of Doctor Who, so they already have a lot to do with each other._**

**_Hey look I said "I'm not" in almost the same place on the last two lines. Cool._**

**_So anyway, since some (if not most) of you probably don't watch Torchwood, here's a brief guide of sorts:_**

**_AWESOMELLAMA123'S GUIDE TO TORCHWOOD TERMINOLOGY_**

**_Characters:_**

**_Jack:_****_ He needs no introduction. If you don't know who Jack is, you should probably watch Season 1 of Doctor Who again. Or that 1 Martha episode he was in. Or Stolen Earth and Journey's End. Or anything with the Face of Boe in it. Although the Face of Boe isn't nearly as awesome as Jack before he was a billion years old._**

**_Gwen:_****_ Main character in Torchwood (along with Jack.) Gwen is an ex police officer and does lots of sleuthing and shooting things. And taking charge when Jack disappears. Which he does quite a lot._**

**_Owen:_****_ I'm not a fan of Owen. Owen is Torchwood's doctor, which is strange because he doesn't really seem to care about whether or not people live or die. Like, they bring in a dead body and Gwen's like "Oh he had a family! That's so sad!" and Owen's just over there going "Yeah, yeah, so sad, blah, blah, blah. I'm bored." Owen's hobbies include sleeping with practically every woman on the show and drinking. My very wise friend once said that he was "an evil dictator without the 'tator' part." Owen also happens to be dead. He died but was risen from the grave by Jack. When he was brought back to life, he got depressed because he couldn't sleep, drink, or have sex. _**

**_Tosh: _****_Tosh is awesome. She's that computer genius that every sci fi show has, except she's not all weird and antisocial. She's really smart and nice and in my opinion one of the best on Torchwood (although everyone except for Owen is one of the best in my eyes.) Speaking of Owen, Tosh has a crush on him. Urgh._**

**_Ianto:_****_ IANTO IS FRICKING AMAZING. HE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER EVER! BUT THEN THE FREAKING 456- ooooops I don't want to give any spoilers. Well anyway, Ianto is DA BEST. He makes amazing coffee, shoots aliens, has a heart and emotions (unlike some people *cough* Owen *cough*), knows where everything is and everything about the Torchwood hub, and is dating Jack (it's a lot more complicated than that, but Janto is pretty hard to explain so I'll just leave it at "dating".) Ianto is great._**

**_Myfawny: _****_Myfawny is a pteranondon (a type of flying dinosaur) who lives in the Tochwood hub. She pretty much just flies around and maims the occasional cyberwoman (long story. Sadly not Owen's fault.)_**

**_Other:_**

**_Weevils: _****_Weevils are recurring aliens on the show. They're not exactly sentient, and basically all they do is cause the occasional hubbub and are a nuisance to the people of Cardiff (aka slaughtering civilians.) Look up a picture of one if you want to. Torchwood has to deal with weevils on a regular basis. Jack and Ianto also often go "weevil hunting," but that probably doesn't involve weevils or hunting, if you know what I mean._**

**_And that's all the stuff that will probably be mentioned in this fanfic. And if you watch Torchwood, I know people die and join and stuff, but I'm just going to use these 5._**

**_Wow that was a looooong author's note._**

**_Okay now here's the story (finally)._**

**Jack's POV:**

I fumble with the buttons on Ianto's shirt until I manage to slip it off him and toss it to the side. It joins his suit jacket and my shirt in the corner of the room.

"Jack, I'm not sure we should be doing this in your office," he says as I pull him closer to me.

"Why? Would you rather we do it in the middle of the hub?"

He laughs and catches my lips with his. "You're hopeless," he murmurs.

"So I've been told."

I run my hands through his neat hair, making it stick up. He pushes me into my chair and sits on my lap, his arms still around me and our lips still together. I slide my tongue across his teeth. He gasps softly. We're so absorbed in each other that we don't hear the door open.

"DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO WALK IN ON THIS?" a voice from the doorway exclaims. Ianto jumps away from me, startled. He blushes profusely when he sees Gwen standing in the doorway.

"Well, you could always join us," I tease. Gwen rolls her eyes. Ianto's blush deepens and he throws my shirt at me.

"Tosh wants to talk to you. Something about a rift spike. And put your shirt on," she informs me.

"Aww, is all this hotness to much for you?" I tease. She rolls her eyes again and turns to leave. I follow her out the door, hastily buttoning my shirt. Ianto jogs after me, smoothing down his hair.

Tosh spins around in her chair as soon as Gwen, Ianto, and I arrive in the hub.

"So there was a rift spike you wanted to tell me?" I ask.

"Yeah, it looks like the one from when you… left a couple months ago," she replies, turning back to the multiple screens in front of her.

"You think it could be him?" I ask, rushing to stand beside her and look at the rift spike myself.

"It could be, yes, but- JACK! DON'T GO UP THERE UNTIL WE'VE LOOKAD AT IT CLOSER! JACK!" she yells as I step onto the platform to take me to ground level.

"JACK!" Ianto calls, "come down!"

"Make some coffee, Ianto, we're going to have a visitor!" I yell, ignoring his protests.

The Doctor is making a house call.

**_Yes, I know, this fanfic is usually only told by the Doctor and Rose, but I felt like putting some Jack in there. Tell me in a review if you liked Jack's perspective and want more of it, or if you want the POV of another Torchwood member (I'll do anyone but Owen.)_**

**_Also, yeah, that was a short chapter. I admit, it was kind of filler just so I could put in that Torchwood terminology guide. Hopefully another chapter will be ready soon._**

**_Oh, and that beginning part with Ianto and Jack, that is just about as… intimate as this fanfic will get. My mind isn't THAT dirty. _**

**_P.S. I ship Janto, in case you haven't figured that out yet._**


	20. 19: Torchwood

**_Okay, so I know this chapter took FOREVER and yes I know that forever is a long time XD bad puns. Anyway I had no idea what to write for a while, but I finally finished the chapter, so here it is. _**

**_Oh yeah, and I didn't get any feedback on Torchwood POVs so right now I'm just doing the Doctor, Rose, and a little Jack._**

**Jack's POV:**

I can barely contain my excitement as soon as I get to the surface.

And there she is.

The TARDIS.

She's about 100 feet away from me. **_AN: 30.48 meters. _**I walk slowly at first, then get faster and faster until I break into a run. As I get close, the door creaks open.

He steps out.

"Doctor!" I yell, grinning widely.

"Jack!" he calls back. But it's not a happy greeting. He looks worried.

And then she steps out.

I slow to a stop in front of the TARDIS.

"Rose?"

Rose leans against the door of the TARDIS. She tries to smile weakly, but winces on pain. She's pale, with dark circles under her eyes.

"What happened? How are you… why…" I trail off.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to get her inside," the Doctor responds. I pick Rose up and she doesn't protest. The Doctor follows me to the tourist information center that leads to the hub. I knock on the door. "Ianto!"

The door opens and we descend into the hub.

"Jack!" Ianto exclaims as soon as he sees us, "Who's this?"

"Just a second, Yan. Owen! We need you!" I call.

"What?" Owen grumbles, climbing down the stairs from the meeting room.

"You have a patient. The autopsy bay is empty, right?"

"Autopsy bay?" the Doctor exclaims, sounding alarmed.

"We don't have a formal hospital," I explain, carrying Rose to the autopsy bay. The Doctor and the rest of the team follow me.

I set Rose down on the table. "Wh… where are we? Jack?" she asks.

"Rose!" the Doctor exclaims, "We're at Torchwood. You'll be okay."

He's lying. I know that tone. I've used it often.

"Gwen, Ianto, talk to Rose. Reassure her. Try to figure out exactly what's wrong. Owen, Tosh, search for a diagnosis and a cure. Doctor, come with me," I order.

The Doctor follows me to my office. I sit down at my desk.

"So, how did this happen?" I ask.

"Planeta Amore," he says, as if that explains everything.

"Planeta Amore? I went on a date there once. And then he disappeared… yeah, that didn't end well. But what happened on Planeta Amore?"

"It's run on sucking the emotions out of people. They captured Rose and I. We escaped, but they had some kind of virus in the air that got inside her and was activated as soon as we left," he explains.

"Well, if it's 51st century, you know we don't have the technology to heal her," I tell him.

"I know," he responds, "I'm looking. For a cure. But she's already held out longer than most people probably would. I don't know if she'll…" he doesn't finish his sentence, but I know what he means. He doesn't know if she'll make it.

"How did she get back?" I ask after a moment.

"She ripped a hole in reality."

"Does that mean…"

"It could."

**Rose's POV:**

The pain in my head obscures my vision, but I can sort of make out 2 figures above me. One is a woman with dark hair and a leather jacket, and the other is a man wearing a suit. "Who… who are you? Where's the Doctor?" I manage to choke out.

The woman strokes my hair. "I'm Gwen Cooper, this is Ianto Jones. We're Torchwood. Your Doctor is talking with Jack right now," she answers.

"Ianto… Gwen… do I know you?" I ask. Their welsh accents seem familiar… oh! The Dalek invasion!

Gwen looks confused. "No, I don't think so."

It must be in their future then.

"So… how did you get… sick like this?" Ianto asks.

I am about to begin telling them about Planeta Amore, but Jack and the Doctor enter the room and we all look up at them expectantly. A young Japanese woman and a brown haired man with a bandaged hand.

"Rose got sick from an airborne sickness that was activated as soon as she and the Doctor left where they were being imprisoned. The TARDIS is going to do some scans, try to figure out a cure. Meanwhile, the rest of us have a very big problem to attend to." Everyone except the Doctor and me looks at Jack with a question in their eyes when he finishes speaking.

"This is about me, isn't it?" I ask quietly. Everyone turns to me. "This big problem. I ripped a hole in reality. The walls between the dimensions. I broke them."

The Doctor and Jack nod. Gwen, and the man and woman beside Jack look at each other, worried expressions flashing across their faces.

Ianto looks terrified.

The color drains from his face. Jack rushes over to Ianto and grabs his hand. He whispers something in the younger man's ear. Ianto nods weakly and the two exit the room.

"Ianto was part of Torchwood one when the cybermen came last time the dimensions were opened. His girlfriend was partially converted…" Gwen trails off. "Could the cybermen come back?" she asks after a moment.

"We destroyed the factories. Me and the parallel universe Doctor. But it's still could happen. If even one cyberman survived, they could rebuild. They're resourceful, and their sole purpose is to convert more people. Even in 50 years, I could never be completely sure," I answer.

"Well, I guess we should figure out how to close up this rip, then," the Japanese woman says, faking optimism. The man next to her and Gwen follow her to another part of the hub.

The Doctor and I are now alone in the autopsy bay. He sits down beside me and pushes my hair back absentmindedly. I grab his arm and his gaze meets mine. His expression is a mask of determination and carefully concealed sadness.

"Am I going to die?" I ask. I can't avoid the question for long. Better get it out of the way now, while I'm still at least halfway lucid.

He looks at me for a while, his expression unreadable.

"Doctor. I need to know."

He drops his gaze. "I don't know," he admitted softly. I try to wrap my arms around him, to hold his hand, to do something to comfort him, but my head pounds as soon as I begin to lift it up.

He stands up and walks away before I can say anything.


	21. 20: Oblivion

**Rose's POV:**

I desperately battle the fatigue that weighs down my eyelids and fogs up my thoughts, knowing that it will pull me into a sleep I may never wake from. As meaningless minutes tick sluggishly by and melt into futile hours, I slip in and out of a painful delirium.

It is sometime late at night that I reach a temporary state of lucidity. Someone has thrown a thin, gray blanket over me, and I pull it over my head, trying to block out the cold darkness of the empty hub. The rest of the Torchwood team must have gone home. I wonder where the Doctor is.

My silent question is answered when I become aware of a consciousness besides my own. Deep, even breaths, much more steady than the shallow inhalations that my exhausted lungs barely manage, come from a spot on the floor beside the table I'm lying on. I prop myself up on my elbow and lean over the edge so I can see the source of the breaths, ignoring the constant throbbing that threatens to take over my mind and end this small period of half-sanity.

The Doctor lies on the floor beside the table. He's curled up tightly, probably for warmth, seeing as he has no blanket. I push off my blanket and drop it on top of his sleeping figure.

After all, dead bodies don't need blankets.

I will die before the morning. I will never again watch the sun penetrate the horizon and bleed bright colors into the dark sky. I won't feel the warmth of day caress my skin, flooding my veins with joy and life.

When life still embraces your body, death is the greatest thing you have to fear.

But now that it has finally come for me, I find the ever-present perturbation nowhere to be found.

Or maybe it is still there, but it's different. Now it's being overthrown by a sort of acceptance. Maybe it's the painkillers that have no doubt been pumped into my veins, or maybe this is what death truly feels like.

But somehow I'm not afraid.

That's a lie.

I'm terrified.

But I'm also not.

_I'm dying._

I always hoped that I would die in my sleep. To be spared of the pain of watching the ominous clouds of death slowly envelop my life, drowning me in inky, choking blackness. But now I'm glad to be awake. I'm lucky to be here, able to control my last thoughts and say my last goodbyes.

"Goodnight, Doctor," I whisper into the empty hub, "I love you."

And then I lie down.

I take a breath, the deepest I can manage in my current state.

Inhale.

I take in everything around me. Everything that is, everything that was, and everything that could have been. That should have been.

Exhale.

I let it all out. My past, my present, my future. I let everything I am flow from my mouth and become one with the air around me.

I close my eyes.

And let myself fade into oblivion.

**Doctor's POV:**

I know something is wrong as soon as I open my eyes.

The autopsy bay is still dark when I wake up. My internal clock tells me that it's 4:57. Timelords don't sleep for as long as humans.

There's a blanket on top of me.

Rose's blanket.

I throw the blanket off and leap to my feet.

She's still on the table. Actually, it's a debatable subject. On the table is a blonde girl, wearing stained white skinny jeans and a torn red silk shirt from Planeta Amore. Her features look like those of Rose Tyler.

But she is not Rose Tyler.

She is not Rose Tyler because I know if I were to open those closed eyes, they would not sparkle with wonder and excitement. If I were to touch those smooth lips to mine, they will be cold and lifeless. If I were to run my hands through that long blonde hair, I would not feel a different hand atop my head, returning the gesture. If I were to stroke that soft skin, it will no longer hold an inviting warmth.

If I were to place a hand on her chest, I will not feel a heartbeat like a fluttering butterfly, trying desperately to break free of it's prison.

That butterfly has finally given up.

It's paralyzed now, suspended, like the people of Pompeii, their last moments captured forever in stone. That butterfly of a heart will never beat again.

Because Rose Tyler is dead.


	22. 21: Anguish

**_Why does everything I write turn out all intense and dark?_**

**_Like seriously I wrote that last chapter while watching danisnotonfire, so I feel like I should've been writing about… happiness… and… awkward situations? _**

**_But no, I was sitting there here writing about "fading into oblivion."_**

**_ Yeah I don't get it._**

**_BTW I know I probably should've put this author's not on the last chapter but I wanted to maintain the cliffhanger._**

**_;)_**

**_Evil winking faces look weird in this font._**

**_Oh and I was reading past chapters and I have a couple things to apologize about:_**

**_1._********_The first chapter was just plain weird_**

**_2._********_The summary chapter thing made no sense_**

**_3._********_I didn't proofread back then_**

**_4._********_I said Rose had a sister when it was really supposed to be a brother (I rewatched Journey's End and realized that)_**

**_So yeah hopefully I've gotten better at writing since that beginning part._**

**_Oh, and sorry that this update is super late, I had a busy weekend and a weekend where all I did was wallow in an existential crisis… yeah so sorry about that._**

**Doctor's POV:**

I stand over her body for a long time, weeping silently. I don't touch her; I know it will only make me hurt more, to feel pale skin like ice and know that it will never be warm again. So I just watch.

For the first time in my life, I don't think of time. It flows around me like a river, and I stay, unmoving, for hours or mere minutes I do not know or care.

"Doctor?" a voice asks. I turn to the source of the interruption. Jack Harkness.

He enters the autopsy bay and sees me standing beside the form on the table. He rushes over to me. "Doctor?"

I turn to him. He can read it in my eyes. He touches her neck, where her pulse would be.

He pulls his hand away slowly.

He turns back to me.

His expression would be unreadable to anyone but I. It is the face of many things, that face of pain, of love, of fear, of anger, of sorrow. It is a book filled with a thousand tiny words from a thousand languages, all pushed onto one page.

I can read it because it is a mutual emotion.

But it's not.

I'm familiar with nightmares. They haunt me every time I close my eyes.

And not even the worst ones ever come close to the pain that I am experiencing now.

It is pain I have come to know well. It's the pain of love. The curse of immortality.

Because for an immortal, love is a curse. We grow to care for a mortal, and watch them slowly age and live themselves to death. And this happens, over and over again, an endless cycle. I have tried to stop, tried to stop meeting them and saving them and loving them, but it never works.

That's the thing about love. It's involuntary. I say I'll never love again, but then someone comes along who interests me, and I promise them a trip. And then one trip becomes 2 trips and then 3 trips and then love, whether it be the kind of love reserved for friends and family members or something else, like what I feel for Rose.

Felt.

But I still feel it.

"She's dead," I murmur, as if saying it will make it less true.

Jack looks at me.

"She's dead!" I scream into the black abyss that seems to fill the empty hub.

Jack puts his hand on my shoulder. "Doctor."

I ignore him. "SHE'S DEAD!" my anguished voice bounces off the walls until it sounds like 100 voices, all mourning the loss of Rose Tyler.

"Doctor," Jack says again. I turn to him.

"She's dead," I tell him, as if he doesn't already know.

"Doctor, that's what I'm trying to tell you. She's still breathing."

Both of my hearts skip a beat as I kneel down and place my ear on her chest.

Her breathing is shallow and weak, which is probably why I didn't notice it before. _But usually Timelords can tell death from life…_

Unless the person is in a coma. Then our senses can get confused.

Rose Tyler isn't dead. She's asleep.

But she may never wake.

**_I know… you all hate me because:_**

**_1._********_I gave you the cliffhanger of the century in the last chapter_**

**_2._********_Then I made you wait 3 weeks for the next chapter_**

**_3._********_And when that chapter finally came, it was really short_**

**_But hey! At least Rose isn't dead anymore._**

**_But she is in a coma :-)_**

**_Yes I know comas are fricking cliché and insanely overused, but in the next _****_episode_****_ chapter I will put all the reasons why a coma was the perfect choice._**


	23. 22: My Fault

**_Hey guys!_**

**_So… hi._**

**_This chapter is a week late._**

**_I swear I wrote it last Friday. Like seriously. It was in my doc manager and everything. But I was too lazy to post it Friday night, and then on Saturday I had a drama performance and Sunday I went to see a musical, and I had to write a song for choir class, so I forgot. _**

**_Oooooooops._**

**_Sorry!_**

**_But yeah, here it is._**

**Doctor's POV:**

"Of course," I mutter, mostly to myself.

"What?" Jack asks.

"The time vortex inside her… paralysis… she's dead… but not…" I'm too busy thinking to give him a comprehensible explanation. I begin to pace back and forth, running my hands through my hair. "The bad wolf. I took it out of her, but a stubborn little wisp of it stayed," I try to elucidate.

"But we already knew that… that's why-" Jack begins.

"Shh! I'll get to it," I cut him off, "Not only did it make her ageless, but that tiny particle is alive. And though it's only a microscopic piece, it's still extremely powerful. And it needs her for something. The universe… the universe needs her. She hasn't served her purpose yet. So that particle… that particle is keeping her alive. But it can't. Not completely. It took a much larger piece of the vortex to create you. The most this little thing could do was put her in a stasis. Suspend her in a state between life and death. And it's trying as hard as it can to wake her up."

"Well can it?"

"Maybe."

"Well what can we do?"

I sigh heavily. "We have to wait."

_-An incredibly nerve-wracking period of time later-_

I've officially walked from one side of the hub to the other 82 times, practically pulling my hair out with worry. "How long have we been waiting?" I ask Jack for the 13th time.

"It's only been five minutes since the last time you asked," he answers exasperatedly.

"No, it's been six. Don't round your numbers. I hate rounding," I correct him. By now, Jack has given up on reminding me that if I knew the exact number of minutes then I obviously didn't need to ask him.

I slump against the railing above the autopsy bay. Rose is still on the table, the rise and fall of her chest just barely noticeable. _It's my fault._

_Shut up. You know it's not._

Yes it is. I took her to Planeta Amore_._

_ No, the TARDIS did._

Yeah, my TARDIS!

_ I think we both know that you have no real authority over the TARDIS._

We're only one person. One Doctor. There is no "both."

_ No, we're 11 people. 10 Doctors._

Now I'm just confusing myself.

_ No, yourself is confusing you._

It's still my fault.

_ It's nobody's fault! It's fate's fault! It's the universe's fault, and you know it._

But it is my fault. I fought with her in that rose garden. We were captured because of me.

_She fought too._

And this voice of reason in my head, telling me it's not her fault, does not have the voice of one of my earlier incarnations.

It sounds like her.

Because that's what she does. She brings out the good in me. She reminds me that some things can't be avoided.

Including her own death.

_She's not dead yet._

But she's not really alive either.

_Yes she is._

But she's not here.

**_I literally have nothing to do this weekend, so there will be at least one more chapter this weekend. I promise. And not an Amelia-Pond-I'll-be-back-in-five-minutes sort of promise, but an I-will-wait-200-years-outside-a-box-for-Amy sort of promise._**

**_Yep, I just triggered with my own feels._**

**_So yeah. Bai._**


	24. 23: Hello Death

**_Helloooooooooooooo earthlings. I'm back, as promised _****_J_**

**Doctor's POV:**

Hello death.

I know you're here. You can't hide from me, just as your victims can't hide from you. I can sense you. You're lurking in the shadows. Inching closer and closer to the table I'm sitting on.

But for once, you haven't come for me.

No, you've come for the girl lying beside me.

The girl who's floating in between my realm and yours.

You've come to drag her from that space in between to your home with your icy claws. To claim her.

And I'm afraid that you will.

Because she's not even really alive anymore.

There's a difference between breathing and living.

Breathing means you're surviving. You're circulatory system is still at work. Your heart is still pumping.

Rose Tyler is breathing.

But she is not living.

A living Rose Tyler laughs and cries and helps and screams and scolds and loves. A living Rose Tyler would be on the TARDIS with me right now, and we'd be flying among the stars, carefree.

_She's still alive._

No, no she's not. A living Rose Tyler reminds me of the good in this universe. A living Rose Tyler expels my eternal loneliness. A living Rose Tyler would be comforting me right now, not being the cause of my unhappiness.

_She's not dead._

True. She isn't. But she's not alive either.

_She could wake up._

She could, although the chances are low.

And even if she does, I can't take her with me.

I won't.

I'll buy her a house. With windows. And ceilings. All that stuff I hate. I'll cheat the lottery and get her the best house money can buy. And I'll take her to that house. I'll show her how grand it is. And she'll be excited. And then I'll hop on my TARDIS and fly away. Far, far away. And I'll never look back. And she'll forget about me. She'll grow new roots here on Earth.

I'm lying.

I'll leave her, and it'll break her heart. And she'll look up at the stars every night, searching for me. And she'll be immortal. She'll never age. And it'll be hard. And she'll be lonely.

And I'll look back. I'll regret.

But I won't come.

And I'd like to say that I won't move on. I'd like to believe that I'll never be the same again. But someday I'll find another companion. And I'll care about that one too.

Sometimes I fear that one day I'll look back on my life and all I'll see is broken promises and regrets. And I'll realize that I'm not a doctor. Doctors help people. I tear people apart.

Maybe that day is today.

_Doctor._

I'm tired of this voice in my head.

_Doctor, she's not gone yet._

Yes, I've noticed that.

_Rose Tyler is dying._

I've figured that out, thanks.

_What do Timelords do, Doctor?_

What kind of a question is that?

_What do Timelords do?_

What do Timelords do?

And then it hits me.

Both figuratively and literally, since I slap my forehead as soon as the obvious answer crosses my mind. "Of course!" I exclaim aloud.

Hello death. Remember me? I'm the one that got away. I've escaped you time and time again. You've taken billions of people from this planet alone. But you can't catch me. And you know what? This one time, I'm not going to let you touch my friend either.

Because you know what Timelords do? We cheat death.


	25. 24: Celestial Fireflies

**_HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!  
Soooooooooooooooooo this chapter is a week late. _**

**_Again._**

**_Oooops…_**

**_Buuuuuuuuut to make up for that week lateness, I'll post a chapter tomorrow because there's no school._**

**_ONLY 4 MORE SCHOOL DAYS UNTIL SUMMER OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG!_**

**_In summer I might go back to daily updates because I'll have so much spare time._**

**_YAYYYYYYYYYY!_**

**__****Rose's POV: **

Is there a color darker than black?

Because my surroundings are that color. Darker than anything possible in life.

And it's not like a room either. I'm just floating through darker-than-black nothingness. There's no breeze, or air at all really. I feel like I should be sort of surprised at the fact that I'm not breathing, but I can't seem to muster up any strong emotion of any kind.

_Is this death?_

No silver gates or cloud palaces. No fires raging forever and anguished screams of tortured souls. No weighing of hearts or judging of deeds. Just floating through the dark.

**Doctor's POV:**

"So what do we do?" asks Tosh anxiously.

Jack called in the rest of the team, even though I don't really need any help. "Just stand over there," I instruct, gesturing vaguely towards the corner of the autopsy bay.

"No need to get snappy," Owen mutters as he follows the rest of Torchwood to the corner.

"Shut up, Owen. His girlfriend's dying," Gwen scolds. Owen rolls his eyes but doesn't retort.

I grasp Rose's cold hand and close my eyes. _Focus._

The soft whirr of the many machines in the hub fades away. The gazes of the anxious team stop boring holes in my back. The feeling of my feet resting on the sturdy floor disappears, yet I'm not falling.

I open my eyes.

It's dark around me. Darker than anything even I have ever seen. Completely void of any color or light. It's like space with no stars.

I reach out my hand and realize it's glowing. My body, as far as I can tell, is made of tiny specs of golden light. I step forward and I can almost see the tiny lights in my leg echoing the movement. In fact, it's more like I'm invisible and the specs are following me.

_I'm made of stars._

_Golden stars._

_ Or not stars, more like… hm… how to describe it…_

Then, I see her, and everything I'm thinking about washes away, leaving only her.

_I'm here for you, Rose Tyler._

**Rose's POV:**

I have no idea how much time passes. I simply sit there, my legs drawn up to my chest and my head resting on my knees, waiting, though I don't know what I'm waiting for.

Then, it comes. What I'm waiting for.

A tiny bit of light penetrates my eyelids, which I realize are closed. I slowly look up.

There he is.

He's not completely solid. His body is made up of tiny dots of golden light, all flitting around, like celestial fireflies. He's standing up, or at least I think it's up (there isn't much of a difference here.)

"Doctor," I murmur in awe, "how did you…?"

"Take my hand, Rose Tyler."

His voice is so incredibly familiar that I want to cry. _Why did I never notice how safe he makes me feel?_

And so I take his glittering, celestial hand, which is surprisingly solid.

He leans over and whispers in my ear.

"Run."

And so we run.

**Gwen's POV:**

Though he's the one who's bringing back the dead, the Doctor is somehow the calmest person in the room.

He stands completely still, his eyes closed and his expression unreadable. His breaths are even and deep, almost as if he's asleep.

The rest of us are far from calm.

I can tell it's not just me who feels the suspense. Owen is leaning forward, as if he wants to leave his spot against the wall. Tosh holds him back, but I can see her shaking slightly. Ianto slides his hand into Jack's. I instinctively wrap my fingers around the gun in my back pocket, even though I know none of us are in danger. The entire hub seems to hold its breath, watching the girl on the table.

His hand begins to glow with a golden light. All of us, excluding Jack, glance at one another, as if to confirm the others were seeing the same.

**Rose's POV:**

We run and run, and I feel like I should be out of breath but then remember that I don't have any breath to start with. We run far, or at least I think it's far. For all I know, we could be running on invisible treadmills, seeing as our surroundings never change.

And then there's a light up ahead, and as we near it, I realize it's the Torchwood autopsy bay I died in, just floating in the blackness. And in that autopsy bay is a frozen tabloe of the Torchwood team, their expressions a mix of wonder and fear, all looking at a man holding the hand of a girl on a table.

We keep running, our hands still linked, and soon we're in the room.

He steps into the body of the still man.

I lie down on the table and become one with the girl.


	26. 25: If I Can Run Far Enough

**_Heeeeey! _**

**_Does anyone else think that Celestial Fireflies would be a great name for a band?_**

**_I was posting the last chapter and when I wrote that as the chapter title I was like OMG._**

**_Yeah so that was random._**

**_Anyway, here's the much awaited chapter._**

**_Well, much awaited for like 12 hours._**

**_Whatever._**

**Rose's POV:**

My eyes snap open and I find myself lying on the table of the autopsy bay. The Doctor stands beside me.

"Rose?" he says tentatively, as if he can't be sure I'm actually there.

"Doctor," I respond. _I'm here. I'm real._

He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, he lets out a yelp and his hand flies to his forehead. "What's wrong?" I ask anxiously.

"I'm… fine… just… augh!" his sentence is cut off by another painful cry. He crumples to the floor, clutching his forehead.

I hold his arms, and Gwen (from Torchwood, who I realize are still standing in the corner) runs over lifts his feet. "Where should we take him?" Gwen asks.

"The TARDIS. That's his… ship," I instruct. Gwen nods and we start walking.

_-About 20 minutes later-_

I sit beside the Doctor, who's lying on my bed (I realized that I don't know where his bedroom is, or if he even has one.) Gwen is exploring the TARDIS, which I probably shouldn't have let her do, but I figure she can take care of herself. Besides, I'm busy with the Doctor.

Well, not really busy. Actually, I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting beside him, tapping my feet on the floor anxiously.

He's so… still. He doesn't seem like the Doctor. He just lies there, breathing softly. Part of me wants to wake him, but he probably needs his sleep.

_Shouldn't he be awake by now?  
Shut up, you've only been sitting here for five minutes!_

_ How about now?_

_ IT'S LITERALLY BEEN 3 SECONDS._

_ Should I wake him?_

_ …maybe…_

Luckily, just when I feel like I'm about to explode, his eyes flutter open. "Rose?"

"Doctor! I was worried. You haven't slept this long since you regenerated!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, well…"

"Well what?"

"Well I…"

"Well you what?"  
"I thought you'd figured it out by now."

"Figured what out?"

"Well, I…"

_What is he talking about?_

Then I realize.

_Oh my god. _

"You… you gave me…"

"My last."

I don't know whether to be angry or overjoyed.

_He gave me his last regeneration._

_ He cares about me._

_ He gave me his last regeneration._

_ That means that next time he dies, he's dead._

"Doctor…" I breathe, "You… you saved me."

"I did."

"But you gave up your last regeneration."

"Yeah."

"You're on your last life."

"Yeah."

Tears form in my eyes. "I…"

"I know, Rose. But I'm not gone yet. I have one life left and I intend to keep it that way."

"Thank you," I whisper. I lean closer to him. _What am I doing?_

I almost think that he'll let me kiss him. _Please, let this be the fairy-tale ending._

He turns his head away. "I can't."

"O-okay." I try to keep the disappointment out of my voice, but I can feel my face reddening, betraying how upset I really am.

"Rose…" the Doctor begins.

"I… I have to go," I say quickly.

I leave him on the bed, still trying to find words to explain himself.

**Doctor's POV:**

She lets go of my hand, which she started holding at some point, and storms out of the room.

I know I hurt her. It hurt me, too. I wanted to pull her on close to me. To close the gap between our lips. But I can't.

If I didn't have one regeneration left, she would've died. And next time, I won't be able to save her.

I want to be able to believe that there won't be a next time. But I know there will. Endings are inevitable. Even for immortals.

So I'm going to have to leave her.

And refusing that kiss was not the act of heroic selflessness I could make it out to be. I wasn't trying to make her hate me so she'd be spared of the pain that will come when I leave her.

No, I was sparing my own feelings. Because some tiny part of me still believes that if I can run far enough, love won't be able to find me.


	27. 26: Immortals

**_OMG IS IT OFFICIALLY SUMMER BREAK! _**

**_Actually it was several weeks ago but I've been busy._**

**_Well at least it's summer break for me. According to a Guest review, some schools still have like a month left. Also, some of your schools probably ended already, or you finished school like 30 years ago… jk I don't think any of you are 50 years old XD. If you are, then… wow I was not expecting you._**

**_If you're school hasn't ended yet, then good luck on that FRICKING PILE OF HOMEWORK TEACHERS ALWAYS GIVE YOU IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS OMG I HATE IT!_**

**_And yeah I know this chapter's kind of late, I was on a road trip and didn't have wifi._**

**_Anyway here's the chapter._**

**Rose's POV:**

Tears flow down my cheeks and into my lap. I'm so absorbed in thoughtless thoughts that I don't notice Gwen enter the control room until she sits down beside me.

"I've seen a lot of things in the past year, but I have to admit that this ship probably tops them all," she comments.

"It was the same for me. Although, before the Doctor, nothing really happened in my life."

"Yeah, same for me and Torchwood."

We sit there for a moment, lost in our own thoughts, the only sound in the room being the soft whirr of the TARDIS.

"You two had an argument, didn't you?" she asks, breaking the silence.

I finally look at her. "How did you know?"

"Oh, come on. Sitting on the floor and staring into space with a shell-shocked expression on your face? Girl code for 'I just got dumped.'"

A smile tugs at my lips, but then I remember what we're talking about. I look down at the floor, wondering what to say next.

"So, was it the whole 'I'm dangerous and should push everyone away' thing?" she asks after a moment.

"Not sure. He didn't really say much," I respond. Although, now that she says it, I realize that that's probably what it is.

"It probably is. Jack does that when someone on the team is badly injured. Or when he's just really, really drunk. He usually gets over it, though."

I sigh. "Yeah, the Doctor probably will, too. It's just… it's so hard, you know? They act like they're completely responsible for everything we do."

She nods eagerly. "Totally. I mean, if some alien came through the rift and killed me, Tosh, Owen, or Ianto, Jack would blame himself and fall apart. But it wouldn't be Jack's fault. I mean, we'd all feel guilty for not being there to help the person, but in the end, it's them who didn't shoot fast enough. And I know that's a horrible thing to say, but it's true."

"Yeah, and it's not like whoever died would be entirely to blame. All of you could have been with them. And Jack could've not let them join Torchwood. But the thing about blame is that you can't place it all on one person. Heck, you could say part of the blame could go to the dead person's parents for making them exist in the first place. And then those parents' parents, and soon you're blaming the cavemen. No one person is responsible for anything," I add.

She smiles. "Immortals," she says, in the same way a 13 year old girl would say "boys" when annoyed by one.

"They're really hot, but they're just so complicated," I agree.

She laughs. "I can only imagine what it's like to date one!"

My smile fades. "Yeah… it's… it's interesting."

She becomes serious. "He loves you. He thinks pushing you away is a sacrifice he has to make. That he has the right to make. But he still wants you. So go talk to him."

I smile. "You really think that?"

"Everyone thinks that. Now go," she urges, pushing me into the hallway.

**Doctor's POV:**

I stretch out on the bed, almost forgetting that I'm still in her bedroom. Staring at the blank while ceiling, I can no longer keep the unpleasant truth away.

Rose will come and try to talk to me. To reason with me.

And I'll have to refuse her.

Again.

But that won't be the worst part.

Because I'll have to send her back to Earth.

And it will tear us both apart.

But her more than me, because she wont know that I'll miss her.

Why do I have to fall in love?

Love, for a Timelord, holds hands with pain. Because we outlive everyone except each other. And I don't even have other Timelords.

And so I have to choose: let my companions stay and watch them age and die, or send them away and know that I'm hurting them, but also saving them from the danger that follows me. Both options cause great pain.

I face two evils and there is no lesser.

I thought with Rose it would be different. She won't age.

But she's still in danger when she's around me.

And so I'm saving her.

At least that's what I tell myself.

I lie there for a while, trying to force away all of the thoughts that plague me.

But when I finally get them away, there is room for a something else, something that has been just below my consciousness for a long time.

Something.

Isn't.

Right.

Well, technically, nothing is right. I just had to reject Rose.

But there's something else.

Something big.

Something huge and obvious that I know is just about to slap me in the face.

Something…

Something like…

Oh.

Oh, no.

We landed on Planeta Amore because the TARDIS needed to charge (it automatically lands in a place where it can find enough vortex energy. I assume there was a small rift there.)

And it had time.

But then it needed to charge again.

On the rift in Cardiff.

And sure enough, I can't feel her charging now.

Someone doesn't want the TARDIS to fly.


	28. 27: Stumbling in the Dark

**_Hey guys I'm back!_**

**_And apparently I do have readers over 50._**

**_Wow._**

**_I didn't think that 50 year olds would read a 13 year old's fanfiction._**

**_Aaaaaaanyway this chapter is late because I was on a wifi-less road trip and then had 2 Bat Mitzvahs to go to and a bunch of other stuff to do and now I have acting class and I'm suuuuuper busy. Plus I had writer's block._**

**_I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK SO MUCH_**

**_Oh, BTW, remember that plot twisty thing back in chapter 15? (or 16, because the chapter numbers are all screwed up)_**

**_No?_**

**_Well here's a recap:_**

**_"'I'm a Timelord.'_**

**_I expect her to be surprised. But she doesn't. Instead, she looks up at the ceiling._**

**_'DID YOU HEAR THAT?' she calls to the ceiling._**

**_The ceiling responds._**

**_In a very familiar voice._**

**_'Doctor! Doctor!' it exclaims in it's mechanical voice._**

**_Oh no._**

**_No._**

**_No!"_**

**_No, you're probably all asking yourselves: is it really necessary to put quotation marks when quoting your own work? _**

**_Well I'll answer that for you: I have absolutely no idea, and I don't want to look it up, because my web browser is currently occupied with pictures of Misha Collins and I don't want to look away._**

**_JK. I don't think any of you were actually wondering about if my use of quotation marks is correct. You're probably thinking more along the lines of "why the hell is she telling me about this plot twist now?"_**

**_Patience, grasshopper. Patience._**

**Rose's POV:**

I pause outside the door, taking a deep breath.

_C'mon, Rose. This is nothing._

But I'm lying. The Doctor is everything to me.

_Just talk to him. You can talk some sense into him. You're Rose Tyler!_

I force my hand to move towards the button that opens the door. _Just press the button, Rose._

My fingers pause in front of the button. I take another deep breath and-

"Rose!" comes a shout from inside the room. _The Doctor?_

Less than a second later, the door slides open. Surprised, I jump back, just as the Doctor bursts from the bedroom. "Rose!" he yells again, obviously not noticing me. His tone is one reserved for when someone he's close to is in danger.

I grab his arm. "Doctor! What is it?"

He spins around to face me. "Rose! There are-"

He is cut off by the TARDIS swaying suddenly, causing us to topple to the ground. An alarm sounds, and red lights start flashing above our heads. Just as I'm about to ask him what's going on, the alarm and lights shut off, leaving us in complete blackness.

"Doctor?" I ask, groping around in the darkness. I find his warm hand and grab onto it. "Doctor, what happened?"

"Someone's taken over the TARDIS," he responds in a whisper. "Who are you?" he asks, his voice becoming louder and filling the empty corridor.

No answer.

"It never is that easy, is it?" he mutters.

"What's going on?" I question.

"Something drained the TARDIS power," he explains. He begins to move forward, and stumble blindly after him, glad that he seems to know where he's going in the dark.

"Do you know what drained the power?" I whisper, when my discomfort with the eerie silence outweighs my instinctive urge to be stealthy (at least, as stealthy as possible, considering how the Doctor and I keep stepping on each other's feet.)

"No. Well, yes. But no. Yes. No. It's hard to explain," he answers.

I don't respond, not exactly sure what to say. Luckily, he speaks again a few minutes later.

"There was something on Planeta Amore. Something I recognized. An old enemy, probably. But they must've messed with my memory. I still don't what it is," he explains.

"So… you think it might be on the TARDIS?"

"Probably. Unless they've got some other plan."

"And would another plan be better or worse?"

"Depends."

That concludes our conversation, and we stumble along in silence for several minutes.

Just when I think I've mastered the art of walking soundlessly in the dark without bumping into anything, a soft padding noise reaches my ears, like someone walking on a carpet.

"Doctor!" I hiss, pulling him towards me.

"Wha-Rose?" he stutters, as if he's just been interrupted from a train of deep thought, which would explain why he didn't hear the noise sooner.

"Do you hear that?" I whisper.

He grows still, and I can almost see him straining to pick up the sound.

He stays silent, and some tiny little part of me grows irrationally worried.

"Well?" I whisper finally.

"What? Oh, sorry, I was nodding. Forgot you can't see me. Yes, sounds like muffled footsteps… so they have feet… or something resembling feet, at least… and only 2… that certainly narrows it down a bit… definitely too quiet to be cybermen" he murmurs.

The noise stops.

"Doctor?" I breathe.

"Shush! I'm thinking!"

"Doctor…"

"Shhh!"  
"The footsteps stopped."

He freezes and listens again. "You're right."

"I think it heard us."

I squeeze his hand, and he puts an arm around my shoulders. A thin beam of light appears a few feet away from us, shining directly into my eyes.

"Rose? Doctor? Is that you?" comes a welsh-accented voice, distinctly human. _Human? And welsh?_

"Gwen?" I whisper.

The thin beam of light, which I now realize is a mini flashlight, turns, now illuminating the face of Gwen Cooper. I'm just about to let out a relieved sigh when I notice the gun pointed at my face.

"What was the last conversation I had with Rose Tyler about?" she demands.

"Uh… you gave me a pep talk about guys… Gwen, what's this about?" I answer hurriedly.

Gwen lowers the gun. "Had to make sure you weren't a shapeshifter."

"Shapeshifter?" I wonder aloud.

"Or something."

"Do shapeshifters even exist?"

"They do, actually, there's this species from the planet Boreis that-" the Doctor stops midsentence, "Not a good time?"

"Not really," Gwen mutters.

"Can you put the gun away? I don't really like guns," the Doctor requests.

"We're lost in a labyrinth-like time machine with only a tiny flashlight. No, I am not putting my gun down just so you can feel comfortable."

"But it's my ship!" the Doctor argues.

"What are you gonna do? Kick me out? Because if you know where the front door is, I will gladly leave."

"I do know where the front door is! It's just… inaccessible at the moment."

Gwen crosses her arms. "Inaccessible?"

"The TARDIS is in lockdown," the Doctor admits.

"What?" I exclaim, "Where are we going, then?"

"Nowhere. We've been walking in circles for the last 10 minutes. I just can't stand still while I'm thinking," he confesses.

Gwen slaps her forehead. "What happened, anyway? I'm guessing it's not a power outage."

"There was something on Planeta Amore," I explain.

"Something?"

"They messed with his memories."

Gwen sighs and sits down against the wall. "So we have to sit here and wait for whatever it is to show up and try to murder us?"

I slide down beside her. "Yep."

She sighs again. "Well, we'd better get comfortable."

But it turns out we don't have much waiting to do, because less than 30 seconds later, a terribly familiar, mechanical voice fills the empty hallway.

"Doctor? Doctor?!"

**_That wasn't my best writing ever, but I reeeeeally need to post a chapter so whatever. Hopefully the next chapter won't be so late._**


	29. 28: You're Great

**_Hello pretzels._**

**_Yep you're all pretzels now._**

**_That was literally the first word that popped into my head._**

**_Oh yeah, and I've just realized that I should probably start replying to reviews._**

**_So yeah, if you leave a review (and not a guest review because I can't reply to those) I'll reply to it! _**

**_Oh and yes this chapter is extremely late I know but last week I was in 7 shows and the week before was tech week so I was really busy._**

**_Buuut now the shows over, which is sad but also means I'll have more time and energy to write._**

**Rose's POV:**

We all freeze for a moment, letting the terrible truth sink in, each hoping we're wrong.

The Doctor says it first.

"Daleks."

The word, though spoken quietly, falls like an anvil, crushing the small shreds of hopeful denial we had clung to.

"Shit," Gwen mutters. The Doctor doesn't even bother to chide her for the language.

"Okay, well, what have we got?" I ask.

"One handgun. Doctor, this would be the time to break out that secret artillery of yours," Gwen responds.

"I don't have a secret artillery!" the Doctor exclaims.

"That's what I was afraid of," Gwen mutters.

"Who just happens to have a secret artillery?" the Doctor asks in defense.

"Who just happens to have a time machine? Anyway, what's the plan?" Gwen continues.

"Plan? Where would I get a plan? Why can't you come up with the plan?"

"Well you've been alive for a thousand years!"

"That's 982, thank you very much. And what's that got to do with it?"

"You've had a lot more time than me make a backup plan!"

"So? Do you think I just sit around devising plans for when Daleks commandeer the TARDIS?"

"I don't know what you do when you're bored!" Gwen argues.

"I have a life, you know!" the Doctor shoots back, ignoring me.

"Sure you do."

The Doctor recovers quickly, but I can tell the comment hits him harder than it was meant to. I jump in before Gwen notices. "How about you two stop arguing and help me come up with a way to not be exterminated by Daleks!" I exclaim. The two of them seem to shrink a little, like children being scolded by their mother. I barely manage to keep a straight face as realize that I've just succeeded in chastising a 980-year-old Timelord and a Torchwood agent. I take a deep breath. "Alright, well we should probably find our way back to the control room. Do you have any idea where we are, Doctor?"

He stares at me for a moment, looking a little awestruck. "What? Oh, right. Um, it should be that way," he answers, pointing into the darkness to the right of where we're standing.

"Okay, good. Gwen, give the flashlight to the Doctor," I command. She obeys, and we start walking.

The Doctor walks quickly, and soon the thin beam of the flashlight reveals the many levers and buttons of the TARDIS controls. The Doctor rushes up to the controls, trying to get some sort of response from the time machine. I follow him, while Gwen stations herself by the door, holding her gun at the ready, though we all know it won't be much use against a Dalek army.

"So you really don't have a plan?" I murmur.

"Do I ever have a plan?" the Doctor responds, "Plans are for… boring people." I laugh and shake my head. A smile tugs at the Doctor's lips as he presses a few buttons. "You know, you did a good job back there," he remarks after a moment.

"Just doing what I always do," I reply.

"I know. That's just it. You're great."

I blush slightly. "You just now noticed that?" I joke, trying to hide how much the compliment means to me.

"Oh, I knew the day I met you, Rose Tyler. I just forget sometimes."

I nod, not really knowing what to say. It turns out I don't have to, because we're interrupted by Gwen, who I think we've both forgotten is still in the room. She clears her throat loudly. "As much as I'd like to let you two lovebirds work out your problems, we've got some bigger issues at the moment. The door is opening."

**_CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SON omg I actually just typed that XD that song has been stuck in my head for days. Fricking Supernatural and its 2x Emmy winning soundtrack. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be soon, and it will be longer and more eventfl (this one was mostly romantic filler) For now, byeeeeeee see you next week (well not really see you more like talk to you… but it's actually not really that either… eh whatever I'm thinking way too far into this anyway bye)_**


	30. 29: The Great One

**_Hey! I'm back! I like this replying to reviews thing! You guys are awesome! It also feels awkward though… idk do you like it?_**

**_I feel like I should have more here…_**

**_OH YEAH DOCTOR WHO SEASON 8 IS ON NETFLIX YAY  
I don't like the 12_****_th_****_ Doctor as much as the others so far. Maybe he'll grow on me. Idk._**

**_Okay, random thing to think about:  
Which came first? The bagel or the hole?_**

**Doctor's POV ****_(finally)_****:**

I wish I hadn't pushed Rose away.

With every second I spend close to her, I can feel the cracks in my resolve widening, letting doubt pour in. But then I see her lying on that table in the autopsy bay, barely breathing, and I know that I can't back down.

But that doesn't mean I can't compliment her and show that I'm maybe just a little bit in awe of her, right?

Right?  
I'm trying to ignore how beautiful she looks and focus on trying to fix the TARDIS, but she's just so perfect, even though her hair hasn't been brushed in days and she's not wearing any makeup and she hasn't taken a shower or changed clothes since Planeta Amore. None of that matters, because she's still taking charge and reminding me why I invited her to travel with me in the first place.

_No no no no NO! She may be brilliant and beautiful and amazing, but she's in danger when she's with you. _

Luckily, my moment alone with her is ended before my conflicting emotions force her to reject her again by the TARDIS doors opening, which, on second thought, may not be very lucky at all.

But lucky or otherwise, we take a collective deep breath and step outside.

And find ourselves surrounded by Daleks.

For a moment, we just stand there, taking in our surroundings. It's an impressive room. Dome shaped, and large enough to fit an army (which it probably had, at some point, seeing as this is a Dalek room.) An intricate geometric pattern made of turquoise light covers the huge column in the center of the room contrasts the unremarkable gray metal the walls and ceiling are made of.

There are 12 Daleks in total, standing in a half moon around the TARDIS. Strangely, they don't move, or even speak.

Gwen is the one to break the silence. "What do you want?" she boldly asks the nearest Dalek.

It swivels to face her. "Do not speak, peasant."

_Peasant? _

I am the next one to try figuring out their motives. "I suppose you want me, then?"

A different Dalek answers my question. "No, peasant."

_They don't want me?_

Rose clears her throat. "Well why are we here then? Did you just wake up this morning and think 'gee, I'd really like to kidnap some time travelers'?"

The Daleks ignore her sarcasm and answer the question seriously. "We need the Bad Wolf."

Rose's eyes widen, and all three of us freeze. Gwen glances at me. _Attack?_ I shake my head slightly in response.

I shift my gaze to Rose. I can tell she's terrified, yet her posture is strong and her expression is not one of fear. She addresses the Dalek in front of her directly. "Why do you want me?"

The Dalek meets her intense gaze. "You will show us the light."

**Rose's POV:**

_Show them the light?_ "What do you mean?" I demand, fighting to keep my voice steady.

"The Great One will explain," the Dalek answers. _How cryptic can an alien killing machine be? _I wonder, getting annoyed with the vague answers.

"Who's that? Your commander?" the Doctor asks from where he's standing a few feet away from me. I almost forgot he and Gwen were in the room.

"The Great One is our savior."

_Savior? _The confused expression on the Doctor's face mirrors mine.

"Savior? You mean like… Dalek Jesus or something?" Gwen questions.

"The Great One is our savior," the Dalek repeats.

"So you've got a religion now? Daleks with a religion? What are you going to get next? Pudding?" The Doctor exclaims incredulously.

Gwen raises an eyebrow. "Pudding?"

"First thing that popped into my head," the Doctor explains. Gwen rolls her eyes, and I almost laugh.

"The Bad Wolf will come with us," the Dalek in front of me commands, snapping me back into reality.

"What about them? I'm not doing whatever you need me to do if you hurt them!" I demand.

"Oh, don't worry. Your friends will be fine," assures a sickeningly familiar voice.

The Daleks simultaneously turn towards the left wall of the room. The panels it's made of rearrange themselves to form a doorway, through which she comes.

Dark hair still unbelievably glossy, porcelain skin smooth as ever. Now wearing a silver evening gown, but with almost the same cut as her red one.

Her scarlet lips curve into a wicked grin. "That is, if you cooperate."

**_BET U DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING! _**

**_Actually neither did I until this morning when I was eating a carrot and all the sudden I was like LIGHTBULB_**

**_Wow now I'm making Despicable Me references_**


	31. 30: Monologuing

**_Well, this is awkward_**

**_I forgot to write for like the last 3 weeks_**

**_Crap_**

**_Sorry_**

**_Ummmmm well let's see what happened in my life since my last update_**

**_School started_**

**_waaaaaaaa_**

**_But hey if I get a Language Arts assignment to write a fictional story I know what I'm going to turn in :P_**

**_Although my language arts teacher has so far just had us write about our favorite books and then read it to the class which I hate because I don't like showing stuff I write to people I vaguely know_**

**_Which is why I share it with the Internet_**

**_It makes a lot more sense in my head_**

**_But bleh school_**

**_I went to a Taylor Swift concert and IT WAS SO FUNNNNNN OMG I have no idea why I just told you guys that but it was awesome_**

**_My math homework involves toothpicks_**

**_Okay I'll just write the rest of this later when it's not like 1:00 in the morning because this author's note is getting kind of strange_**

**_Oh yeah and the woman at the end of the last chapter was supposed to be the lady from Planeta Amore (some of you were confused about that since she was supposed to have died like 10 chapters ago and everyone forgot about her)_**

**_I'm back its like 4 days later_**

**_I still haven't actually written anything_**

**_Hmmm what else happened_**

**_There was #WeLoveYouMisha_**

**_OHHH AND I MET FELICIA DAY, which was AMAZING_**

**_Non SPN fans have no idea what I'm talking about_**

**_FELICIA DAY IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL_**

**_I'll just stop this note here_**

**Gwen's POV:**

Rose's eyes widen. "You?"

The woman in the doorway smirks. "Me."

Rose's look of shock becomes one of anger. "I killed you! I destroyed your stupid love planet! You're… you died!"

"Oh, that thing? Yes, lovely little toy, wasn't it? Love planet. Nice idea, if I do say so myself. Love planet. Hah! Intergalactic tourism is a beautiful thing, don't you think? Oh wait, don't answer that. You're the goodie goodies."

I roll my eyes. "Goodie goodies?"

The sinister woman seems to notice me for the first time. "Oh look. You've brought a friend," she observes, sounding unimpressed.

I tilt my chin up and try to look like I'm in control. "I… I'm a very powerful time agent!" I lie.

"Oh, trying to scare me? You're adorable," the apparent villain gushes with a smirk.

_Damn._

I make eye contact with the Doctor. _Plan? _He shakes his head slightly.

"You know, it's a natural human instinct to kill something that is too cute for your emotions to deal with. Maybe I should kill you," the woman muses. Rose sucks in a breath clenches her fists. Our captor laughs. "Oh, calm down. I'm not actually going to. I need you. Well, I need Rosie here, at least. And she's just so _loyal_. If I kill one of you, she'll get all annoying. Of course, I could torture her… no, that's too messy. And honestly, stop looking so scared. Actually, no. Keep doing that. It really helps set the mood."

I watch the Doctor and Rose out of the corner of my eye. Rose is trying to conceal her panic, while the Doctor looks slightly confused.

The woman continues her speech. "Oh, I'm monologuing, aren't I? But you're still hanging onto my every word. See, that's the great thing about hostages. They're such great listeners. It gets so lonely here sometimes. I mean, my Dalek army is great and all, but they just don't understand me, you know?" she pauses and looks at us, as if she actually expects a response. Rose tentatively shrugs, and the woman sighs. "No, of course you don't. You've never been stuck on a ship with Daleks for who knows how long. But hey, now that you're here, that won't be a problem for much longer."

_She needs Rose… to help her get off whatever ship we're on? Huh?  
_Our talkative captor realizes what she just let slip. "Oops. Oh, whatever. I was going to tell all this to Rose in private anyway. Which I suppose I should do. Daleks, take our two extra guests to the dungeons!"

The Dalek closest to me speaks for the first time. "Daleks do not have 'dungeons.'"

"Yeah, yeah. Prison. The cells. Whatever you want to call them." She rolls her eyes and looks straight at me, as if to say _can you believe these guys? _With a wave of her hand, three Daleks surround me and I am led towards a door to my right, the Doctor following behind with his own Dalek wardens.

**Rose's POV:**

I watch as Gwen and the Doctor are taken away, flanked by Daleks. When the heavy doors slide shut behind them, the glances me and gestures towards the doorway she's standing in front of. "Well, now that we've got that dealt with, let's go to my throne room and have a chat, shall we? I'm sure you have quite a few questions."

**_I know you all probably hate me right now because this was incredibly late and not very well written (not to mention super short). I swear my next chapter won't take as long._**

**_And yeah I know monologuing isn't a word shhhh don't tell my language arts teacher_**


	32. 31: Glass

**_Hey guys. It's late again. Sorry I keep getting school projects and I haven't had time to play videogames with my friends for like a week I'm so busyyyy_**

**_But hey Chapter 31's ready now_**

**_And while we're on the subject, CHAPTER 31_**

**_WOAH_**

**_DAYUMMM_**

**_Also, 50 FOLLOWERS_**

**_WOAH_**

**_DAYUMMM_**

**_I know you guys can see most of these stats but I just need to type them:_**

**_Chapters: 31 (well 32including that really bad summary)_**

**_ Reviews: 31_**

**_Favorites: 24_**

**_Followers: 50 _**

**_Communities: 1 _**

**_Views: Over 11,000 (and that's just this month) _**

**_Words: 26,911_**

**_WOAH_**

**_Seriously when I started this I though it was just going to be me and my friend reading it, and maybe a few other people. When it got its first follower I was like HOLY CRAP PEOPLE ARE NOTICING ME and when it got its first review (which was a guest review that said "I LOVE IT! WRITE FASTER! ROSE AND 10 FOREVER 3" still not sure what that 3 means but the message made me happy regardless) I squealed. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCHHHHH AND I LOVE TALKING TO YOU OVER PM EVEN THOUGH IT TAKES ME LIKE FOREVER TO RESPOND BECAUSE I'M SO AWKWARD IT'S JUST AMAZING AHHHH LIKE I STARTED OUT WITH JUST SOME RANDOM IDEAS AND NOW THERE ARE 30 CHAPTERS AND 50 OF YOU AMAZING PRETZEL PEOPLE_**

**_NO WAIT YOU'RE BETTER THAN PRETZELS_**

**_YOU'RE YOGURT PRETZELS_**

**_Also, Hilly and Hannah Hindi are creepily good at imitating Dan and Phil like woah_**

**_This bakery/café that was a big part of my childhood closed down a week ago because of Starbucks being a jerk _****_L_****_ Thnks fr th Mmrs, La Boulange_**

**_I feel like 99% of these author's notes are just the first thoughts that pop into my head _**

**_Anyways on with the chapter_**

**Rose's POV:**

The clicking sound of the woman's high heels is amplified by bouncing off the high walls of the long hallway. I try to seem intimidating, but it doesn't work very well considering I have to practically run to keep up with her long strides and we are flanked by 6 alien killing machines that are all under her control.

It seems to take ages to reach the end of the hallway, but we finally do. The doors are huge, at least 3 times my height. More like a thick metal wall split in two with hinges attached. A hint of a smile reaches the woman's lips as two Daleks push the heavy-looking doors open.

The first thing that registers is the light. I hadn't realized how dark it was in that hallway until the light from the room beyond flooded in, forcing me to blink. The woman throws her arms wide, her slender body silhouetted against the brightness. "Welcome to the throne room!"

And what a room it is. My eyes adjust to the light, and I step inside despite of myself. The ceiling is high and vaulted, just like that of the room the TARDIS landed in, but this one is much grander. Most of it is taken up by a giant painting of the Earth, sparkling blue ocean surrounding bright green continents, slightly obscured by white swirls of cloud. Directly underneath the center of the mural is a podium, on which there are two throne-like chairs that appear to be mostly made of gold. That same gold forms lines on the white marble floor, getting narrower as they lead away from the podium, like the directions on a compass, or a little kid's drawing of a sun.

The woman's heels are even louder in this room, so I hear her come up behind me. I spin on my heels, instantly wary. She smirks at my response. "Like it? Designed it myself. Probably one of the only things I'll miss from this place."

I remember my predicament and immediately change my expression from one of wonder to my best glare, which I fix on her, but she's already past me, stepping onto the podium in the center of the room. I watch as she sits down on one of the thrones, draping her legs over one armrest and leaning her back against the other. "Please. Sit," she invites, beckoning me over with a graceful wave.

Knowing I don't have a choice, I join her on the podium and gingerly lower myself into the seat across from her. It's comfortable, I have to admit. My bones don't seem to realize that I've been lying on a table for days until my back touches the white silk cushions. I nearly let myself sink into the softness before I remember that this chair belongs to the woman who captured the Doctor and I. Who tried to kill me. Who now has the Doctor locked up somewhere. Who is now sitting across from me (more like lounging, really), stiletto heels dangling off of her pale feet.

So I force myself to sit with my back straight, my awe at the room having faded and been replace by renewed anger and disgust. "What do you want from me?" I ask, my words cold.

The woman sighs dramatically, leaning her head back and letting her mane of dark locks almost reach the floor. "Must you be so demanding? Wouldn't you like to relax first? Or at least change clothes, those ones you have on are a bit dingy."

"Cut the foreplay and tell me," I demand, trying to keep my cheeks from reddening slightly at my choice of words. _Foreplay? Really, Rose? Eugh._

Scarlet lips forming a small frown, the woman swings her legs over so she's sitting properly in the chair. "Fine." She flicks her hand at the Daleks, and they exit the room through several small doorways on the edges of the room. The woman waits for them to leave before she speaks again. "I suppose you want to know where exactly I've brought you," she begins, crossing one long leg over the other.

**Doctor's POV:**

"Doctor?" a distinctly Welsh voice calls through the blackness that surrounds me. It's disorienting, how dark it is in here, and I find it hard to judge which direction the voice is coming from or how far away it's owner is. A few seconds later, though, I feel a high heeled boot connect with my side.

"Ow!" I cry, more in annoyance than pain.

The owner of the boot jumps back. "Oh! Is that you?" Gwen exclaims.  
"Yes it's me! Do you just go around kicking things?"

"It's dark!"

It is dark; I'll give her that. The Daleks had led us down an unremarkable metal hallway before unceremoniously pushing us into a pitch-black room. It's too dark to see anything (these Daleks just really aren't into the idea of lighting, are they?) but from the way Gwen's voice bounces off the walls, it seems to be a fairly small chamber. I sit up, instinctively squinting, although I know it's in vain.

"Can you see anything?" Gwen asks after a moment.

"Do you think I can see anything?"

"You're an alien! I don't know if you have night vision or something!"

I roll my eyes and lean against the wall, and I hear Gwen slide down beside me. "So… not to be pushy, but _where the hell are we_?!" she demands.

"That woman was the leader on Planeta Amore," I explain.

"The leader from Planeta Amore?"

"Well don't sound so surprised! Of course she wants her revenge!"  
"Yeah, but I thought she would be wanting her revenge while in hell."

"Religion is a-"

Although I can't see Gwen's exasperated expression, I can picture it well, judging from her tone and her overall personality. "I'm not talking about religion! I'm talking about her being _dead_!"

"Oh. Right. That."

"Oh right? _Oh right?_ I thought you killed her!"

"Well, she appears to be back," I point out, which is, admittedly, a rather unhelpful observation.

"Thank you, captain obvious," Gwen mutters sarcastically, "so any more brilliant revelations on how she got back?"

"It could be a clone. Or a twin," I suggest.

"An evil twin? Sometimes I wonder how you managed to save the universe."

I lean my head back and sigh. "Honestly? A lot of really good luck and reliable companions," I respond. _Companions like Rose. Who, for all I know, is dead right now._

"She's not dead," Gwen says in a surprisingly gentle voice, "they wouldn't bring us all the way here just to kill her and lock us up."

I think she says something else, but I've stopped listening. Instead, I have my hand pressed against the wall.

Gwen notices my change in manner and sits up. "Doctor? What is it?"

I place her hand next to mine. "Feel anything?"

"Uh… it's smooth?"

"Yeah. Smooth. Perfectly so. Almost like it's been polished. But that doesn't make sense. This is a prison, and Daleks aren't housekeepers. Even if it's not often used, which, knowing Daleks, it probably isn't, it wouldn't be this smooth even when it was brand new."

I can almost feel the realization enter Gwen's consciousness. "So why would it be so smooth? It's not metal, is it? Or anything that can be rusted or scratched."

A quick scan with my screwdriver confirms my suspicions. "No, it's not. It's glass."

"But… how can it be… oh. Oh no."

"Yeah. It's that dark, that empty, because we're in the void."


	33. 32: Escape?

**_Hello yoghurt pretzels! Ooops I spelled it the British way. Actually, Doctor Who is British, so maybe I'll keep it like that. Because… England!_**

**_So you may notice its Wednesday. Yep, early update. Well, early if you count that this is already a month late but I'm not waiting 2 more days._**

**_So maybe "late" is a better word_**

**_Oh shut up and let me have a nice intro._**

**_So anywayyy I decided to update today because ITS BACK TO THE FUTURE DAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY and this is a Doctor Who fic and Doctor Who is about time travel so yay_**

**_I kept expecting something really awesome to happen today but the only interesting thing I did was learn that blueberry starbursts exist._**

**_So yeah *speedometer reaches 88 mph* COMMENCE THE TIME TRAVEL_**

**Rose's POV:**

"Now, usually I like to save the best part for last, but I'm feeling indulgent today, and you seem rather anxious to know. We're in the void."

She says it so casually, my first thought is that I couldn't possible have heard her correctly. But the glint in her eyes tells me I heard exactly what she said. "The void? We can't be in the void! We'd be dead!"

"Not if we had the right technology, which, conveniently, we do," the woman replies, obviously pleased by the look of horror on my face.

_I need to get out of here. What would the Doctor do?_

"Yes, its actually quite comfortable here. Although the scenery's a bit lacking. Luckily, I know a way to get us out of here. Well, get me out of here. You might not be quite as satisfied," she continues.

_He would… pull out his sonic and open a door in the floor! Nope, never mind. Don't have a sonic. _My captor is still talking, although I've pretty much blocked out whatever she's saying by now. _Wait! Talking! That's it! He'd keep her talking until he found a way to escape! _I look up at the woman. "So, uh… how'd you get here? In the void, I mean," I ask, a question that I figure will require a fairly long answer.

"Oh, it's a long story. Good thing I love monologues," she responds. I nod absentmindedly. She doesn't seem to notice my vacant mind and dives right into her story. "I know it might seem like I have some sort of personal grudge against you, but really, I don't. It's not you. It's me. Actually, no. It's not me. It's my husband. Or, more accurately, ex husband. He was a wonderful man, at least I thought…"

I scan the room while still trying to at least half pay attention to what the woman is saying. The walls are tall and white, with 12 gold columns placed at regular intervals, like the numbers on a clock. Each white space between two columns has an open archway, except for the space to my right, which holds the large door we came in through. _I need to get through that one._

Meanwhile, the woman is still talking. "…And since he loved me so much, couldn't I just do one teensy little favor? Well, I said yes, because I was a good wife. And can you guess what the favor was?"

After a second of expectant silence, I realize she wants me to answer. "Oh! Uh… no, what did he ask you to do?"

"He asked me," she pauses for dramatic effect before saying the next part (if she didn't have the Doctor, Gwen, and I hostage, I'd definitely be rolling my eyes at her some of her antics), "to murder his boss!"

"Well! That's quite a favor!" I comment so she doesn't notice my searching for an escape route._ The ideal way would be leaving through the main doors, since I know how to get back to the TARDIS from there. Those doors look heavy, though, and I have to get out quickly._

The "…but you know what he did? He turned me in! And so they took me away, the police with their huge antimatter guns and everything. You know how intimidating one of those is? Oh, of course you don't, you're barely out of the musket age. Well, they're huge. And they don't even need to be that big. It's not like the technology needs a body equivalent to the machine guns of your time. It's just some testosterone thing. Now that's something that doesn't change with the centuries," she laughs lightly, as if we're friends chatting over a cup of coffee.

I force an awkward smile and nod, wishing she'd stop requiring audience participation. _So not the big doors. That leaves the archways. 11 exits. But which one?  
_"…Of course, since they'd abolished the death penalty by that point, they threw me in here, to float around like a dead fish. Good thing there was a perfect little Dalek army floating around in here, desperate for a leader. You wouldn't believe how many spare ship parts are just floating around in here. I guess people have just fallen through the occasional dimensional tear over the years. So I took all these ship parts, whether they be Sontaran, Slitheen, Sycorax, or anything else my Daleks found, and designed a with them. The Daleks built it, and we've been here ever since."

_The Daleks went down 6, but which six? I know none went behind me, so the 3 I can't see will be my best bet. _I lift myself off the seat slightly, preparing to spring out of it and run. _3… 2…_

The woman lets out a laugh that can be best described as a cackle. "Oh, you're adorable!" she exclaims, smirking at the confused look on my face. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about. You think I can't see this whole escape plan you're formulating? You were about to run. Don't deny it. Honestly, you weren't exactly discreet about the fact that you weren't paying attention. I'm a bit disappointed about that, but I'm in a fairly good mood today, so I'll let it pass. Now, I suppose you'd like to know why I brought you here."

There is a sinking feeling in my stomach as I am forced to face the reality:

Getting out of here will be harder than I thought (and I already thought it would be pretty difficult.)

**Doctor's POV:**

I hear Gwen's back thump against the wall as she leans against it in shock. "The void? As in… big black hole of doom that ate up Torchwood 1?"

"It appears so."

"Shit."

"Language."

Even though I obviously can't see it, I know by her silence that she is shooting me an incredibly forceful withering look. I think we're both a bit preoccupied with the overwhelming hopelessness that inevitably comes with the knowledge of out predicament.

Suddenly, I hear Gwen getting to her feet. "Okay. So. Escape plans?"

"We're in the void," I reply with a sigh, pressing my cheek against the cool glass of the wall.

"And?"

"We're not getting out."

"And?"

_She's right. It's not like we have anything to lose. _I jump up. "You're right! We have to get to rose!"

"We're going down swinging," she agrees.

**_WE'RE GOIN DOOOOOWN INANEARLIERROUND_**

**_BUT SUGAR WE'RE GOIN DOWN SWINGIN_**

**_Why yes, of course I had to. Don't ask stupid questions, John._**

**_Oh yeah and if any of you fellow Supernatural fans ship Sabriel as much as I do (Sabriel is life I mean I love Destiel too but Sabriel and also GABRIEL BY HIMSELF IS ALSO AMAZING I EAT EXTRA CANDY ON TUESDAYS IN HIS HONOR) then you'll be happy to know that I started a Sabriel fanfiction. Feel free to check it out it's my first SPN fic that I'm actually posting yay excitement_**

**_Woah it's 11:22. I just secretly stayed up until 11:22 writing. Livin' the thug life over here._**


	34. 33: Kickass Boots

**_*spins around dramatically in high backed swivel chair and wiggles eyebrows while petting random cat* miss me?_**

**_In case any of you are wondering, I ended up only getting about 11,000 words on NaNoWriMo _****_L_****_ as Chuck from Supernatural so artistically put it, "writing is hard."_**

**_Luckily, I have conquered that hardship to bring you another chapter! *cheers in background from the cheerleading squad I didn't even know my school had until like a year of being at the school*_**

**_You know I should probably list this fic as a Torchwood crossover because there's so much Gwen *adds to mile-long list of things to do*_**

**Rose's POV:**

"So, being the amazingly generous person I am, I'll tell you exactly why I brought you here. And do pay attention this time. It's important. You could even say," the woman leans forward with a smirk, "that this information is worth an arm and a leg." The glint in her eyes tells me that she means exactly what I think she does.

I swallow my fear and meet her gaze. "I'm listening."

"Good. Now, I believe I told you about all the debris in here from old ships. As I said, there were parts from a wide range of intergalactic empires. And you know what one of those empires was? The Timelords."

_Timelords? _I cross my arms. "You're lying. That's…"

"Impossible? Far from it. From what I understand, back before the time war, Timelords jumped between dimensions all the time. A few unfortunate accidents are to be expected. The captains of the ships long gone of course, but I managed to salvage enough old TARDIS parts to be able to borrow that Time Vortex of yours."

I raise my eyebrows. "You _borrowed_ the time vortex?"

Her expression is almost playful. "Might I remind you that you, at one point, have done the exact same."

"Accidentally. And I gave it back."

"As will I. Or, more accurately, as will you."

Clutching the shining armrests of the chair, I lean forward. "Me?"

Instead of elaborating on what could be both a substantial explanation for all of this and a much-awaited respite from the show she's been putting on, she simply flashes me a signature smirk. "Oh, let's not get ahead of ourselves. After all, nobody likes spoilers." I start forward, ready to argue, but she holds up a hand, her expression smug. "Oh, just relax. All will be revealed at the climax."

I sit back down, but stay on edge. "The climax?"

"Yes. You know, the grand show. The death match. Of course, it won't exactly be a fair fight, but hopefully still captivating for both parties."

"So when is this 'climax'?"

She stands suddenly, as if I've just reminded her of somewhere she needs to be. "Glad you asked," she replies, smoothing down her already impeccable dress, "this conversation has been truly wonderful, but it's time I go check on the preparations."

"You're going to leave me here?" I ask incredulously.

"Oh, don't worry. You won't be alone," she replies with a light chuckle, as if reassuring a panicked toddler who had just lost their first tooth and didn't know what was happening, "Dalek 25!"

A Dalek, identical to the rest of her army, enters from the door to my left. "Yes, Master Queen?"

"I told them, it's just Queen," she mutters, rolling her eyes. Remembering herself, she raises her voice. "25, watch our guest here," she commands.

"Yes, Master Queen."

With a swish of her silver dress, the woman turns and has soon disappeared through the larger set of doors. The Dalek and I are alone.

**Doctor's POV:**

"Well? Got anything?" Gwen hisses.

"Maybe if you actually let me think for a moment, I would." The perfectly smooth metal door is cool against my ear as I strain to hear anything going on on the other side.

Gwen apparently has grown too impatient and presses her own ear against the door. "I don't hear any Daleks," she reports.

"What, are you expecting them to bark?" I reply drily.

"Well what the hell are you listening for, then?"

"Radio waves."

"You can hear radio waves?"

"Everyone can hear radio waves."

"You know what I meant."

I place a finger over where I think her lips are, which actually turns out to be her eye. "Ow!" she exclaims, eliciting a loud shushing (courtesy of myself). "What? Is there a Dalek?" she asks, her voice dropping to an urgent whisper.

"Maybe I'd know if you let me listen!"

"Fine! Listen away! Though I still don't know what you're listening for!"  
"Radio waves! Timelords are brilliant. Now shush."

The room is finally still. After a few tense moments, I step away, my mind in full gear.

"Well?" Gwen prompts.

"Two Daleks."

"Shit."

"Yeah. There's got to be a way…" I run a hand through my hair, furrowing my brow in concentration as I try to formulate and at least halfway feasible plan. My thoughts soon begin to wander (as they often do) and I end up contemplating our strange captor. This Planeta Amore lady again? Is there some kind of overlord who's running out of ideas?

That rude voice in my head decides to make a guest appearance. _Well, that's sort of a complex subject._

What?

_Nevermind._

You can't say nevermind to yourself!  
_Well I just did._

What do you mean by complex subject?

_A subject that is complex. Jeez, aren't you supposed to be smart?_

You know what I meant. Or, I know what I meant. And you're me. Uhg, this is confusing. Anyway, what's the "complex subject"?

_I said nothing. Don't listen to me._

Now myself is telling me not to talk to myself?

_Shhhhhhh!_

Don't shush me! I'm you! Now tell me about the overlord!

_The fourth wall must stay intact._

What? The fourth wall?

_I've already said too much. I shouldn't be here at all. It's arrogant._

**Hey!**

_Shut up, Chuck. Hey, isn't "upchuck" a word? Hm. Cool._

What? Who's Chuck? What's going on?

_And then the Doctor shook himself out of his strange train of thought and found himself kissing the- OMG BECKY STOP._

Sor-ry! That sentence was just such a snoozefest!

_Was not!_

It needed more gay love.

_ With what? A Dalek?_

I dunno! It's your sentence. All I'm saying is, Chapter 18 was definitely the best.

_ Let's not talk about Chapter 18._

How many of you are in there? What's Chapter 18?

_Oh, crap. Right. And then the Doctor shook himself, realizing his train of thought had briefly disappeared into abstract and unknown places he couldn't quite recall._

I shake myself, realizing my train of thought had briefly disappeared into abstract and unknown places I couldn't quite recall. I would try (like with people, wandering minds often make the best discoveries), but Gwen has begun to pace, and I am reminded of the task at hand: escaping.

"We have a handgun," Gwen comments.

"Won't do much good on a Dalek."

"Don't you have some sort of Timelord superpowers?"

"I'm not superman. He's a bit overrated, really. Also, very unrealistic. I tried pulling off an outfit like that once and couldn't walk quite right for a week."

"You're just jealous because he uses telephone boxes."

"Why would I be jealous of a man who doesn't exist? And my box has way more features."

Probably knowing this conversation will go nowhere, Gwen returns to her cataloguing of our pitiful artillery. "So no laser eyes. You've got to have something in that coat of yours."

"I'm against weapons, remember?"

She groans. "Of course. Great. So we've got a useless gun and my kickass boots up against an army of Daleks. You know…" she continues ranting, but I'm no longer listening.

_A useless gun and my kickass boots_

I look back in my memory to recall Gwen's current footwear. _Tall and made of black leather, with crisscrossing laces all along the front. Definite steels, but sturdier and shorter than stilettos. _A plan forming in my mind, I feel the glass of the wall. The materials of this ship must be enhanced somehow, as otherwise it would be completely torn apart, but maybe if it were hit from the inside…

It's the best chance we've got.

Gwen seems to sense that I've got a plan and halts in front of me. "What do I do and does it involve shooting anyone?"

**_I have no idea what was happening with the whole Doctor talking to "himself" part but I kind of like it. It even included a few Supernatural references, and a thing that was meant as an SPN reference but I guess could be seen as a Danisnotonfire reference. (Also, chapter 18 was pretty… unexpected. And I say that as huge Janto shipper. Just be glad they were interrupted because I fail at writing smut.)_**


	35. 34: Escape

**_CHRISMAS HAPPENED_**

**_YAY_**

**_Sorry, no Daleks with reindeer antlers. This fic isn't really in the right place for a Christmasey chapter (also this probably won't be posted until New Years). If you reeeeeeally want some Christmas and you happen to watch SPN and ship Destiel, I posted a Christmas Destiel AU oneshot thing called The 22 Years of Christmas so you can read that. Warning: some reviewers reported that made them cry. Ooops. _****_Is it bad that this fact pleases me very much_**

**Doctor's POV: **

I press against the metal door, sonic in place. Gwen's breathing is heavy with anticipation. "Ready?" she whispers.

I grab her arm and she turns, as if she can sense the weight of what I'm about to say. "Gwen, you have to understand… if you come with me, you might not come back."

"Yeah, I don't really plan on coming back here, thanks."

"You know what I mean. You could go back to the TARDIS and wait there.

She turns partway to look at me. "I have done many not-so-noble things in my life, mostly involving Owen Harper, but abandoning a mission isn't one of them."  
"This isn't your fight."

"I'm a Torchwood agent. It's always my fight. Now can we go fight it?" With that, she resumes her throwing stance beside me, left boot in hand.

I can't help from grinning. "You're brilliant, Gwen Cooper."

"Save it. No praise until pattern of my socks is imprinted in the side of that bitch in the dress' face."

Well beyond chiding her word choice, I resume leaning on the door. "Three… two… one… Allon-sy!"

The shoe hits the glass with a loud crash, a startling sound in the quiet room. It is, of course, too dark to see the damage, but judging from the noise, the surface immediately around the area of impact has been shattered, and the cracks are growing.

We don't have much time to experience our handiwork, though. Almost as soon as the cracking sound reaches my ears, a strong force tugs at my body. The void. I jab my finger into the main button of my screwdriver and fling open the door.

After being in complete darkness, the corridor beyond the door's brightness is startling. Gwen and I spend a moment blinking as we try to adjust to the new light, but the strengthening pull of the void proves to be a more pressing issue. "Grab on!" I shout, curling my fingers around the side of the doorframe closest to me.

"No, I thought I'd just let myself float in the abyss for a bit. I heard it's great for the skin." Gwen's voice is strained as she clutches her edge of the smooth metal, but she's sarcastic as ever.

Our two Dalek guards are, of course, fingerless, and therefore have nothing to latch onto as they are sucked into the darkness. As soon as they've spiraled out of sight, Gwen manages to transfer her hands to my side of the doorframe, where I'm already making my way onto safe (well, as safe as one can be on a Dalek ship) ground.

After pushing the door, which seems unaffected by the pull of the void, closed, we sag against it, breathing heavily. "We just offed two Daleks with a shoe," Gwen says incredulously, her expression practically euphoric. She lets out a laugh.

I find myself smiling as well. "Told you we'd make it."

She snorts. "Actually, you told me we probably wouldn't make it."

"Details, details."

We don't have much time for joking, though. Though we've gotten rid of the immediate threat, our escape will soon be noticed, if it hasn't already, and more Daleks will be on their way. Deciding she's had enough time to catch her breath, Gwen pushes I herself into a standing position. "So. Where to, Doctor?"

I stand up beside her and point down the corridor directly in front of us. "The TARDIS. It should be down there. If they haven't moved it."  
"_If they haven't moved it?_ Can't you track it or something?"

"Do I look like I can track a TARDIS?"

"Yes, actually."

I hold her gaze for a moment, before sighing dramatically. "There might've been something in the manual."

"And?"

"Well, I wouldn't know, would I?"

"You didn't read the manual for your Time Machine?"

"Manuals are overrated."

She shakes her head, sighing heavily. "It better still be in that room."

**Rose's POV:**

The Dalek and I spend several moments in an awkward staring contest, if such a thing is possible when one participant uses a single eyestalk to see. When I grow tired of the silence, I cross my arms. "What're _you_ looking at?"

"I have been instructed to watch Rose Tyler," it replies, voice mechanical as ever.

I lean back in my chair, gaze drifting to the large door behind my Dalek babysitter. _I've got to get through there. But how? The Dalek is blocking it, and if I move an inch it'll most likely shoot me on sight. What would the Doctor do?_

_ Wait._

The realization hits me, and I rest the urge to cry out triumphantly. Instead, I stand calmly and stride towards the door, arms still crossed.

"Stop! Stop!" the Dalek exclaims (as exclamatorily as is possible for a Dalek, at least).

"No thanks. I have a crazy lady to stop and a Timelord to find," I reply smugly.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Just as I predicted, no beams of blue light shoot towards me. "None of you can hurt me. You need me. Now I'm going to go foil all of your plans, and you're going to sit here like an oversized toilet plunger." With that, I push open the door (with some difficulty) and march away from the room, leaving the Dalek confused and silent.

As soon as I'm in the corridor, I let out of a sigh of relief. _That actually worked. I'm getting good at this._

I start off towards the room with the TARDIS, a grin on my face. Rose Tyler is back.

**_Yep it's 2016. Does making out with my stuffed panda count as a New Year's kiss? No? How about my picture of Brendon Urie? Still no? Darn it._**

**_Oh, also there might not be a new update next weekend because I have an audition for the acting program at this really good high school so I have to go do that _****_:( Wish me luck!  
_**


	36. 35: Pick Up The Phone

**_So… I have have been having the blockiest writer's block of my life, plus a bunch of auditions and tests for high schools, and a ton of homework. I AM SO SORRY. Like seriously this chapter is so late it's fucking MARCH already and this is my first chapter of 2016. Happy really late New Years, I guess. Does making out with my stuffed panda count as a New Year's kiss? No? How about my picture of Brendon Urie? Still no? Damn it. k: _**

**_Things that have happened while I had writer's block_**

**_1._********_Donald Trump talked about his dick_**

**_2._********_ALAN RICKMAN AND DAVID BOWIE DIED_**

**_3._********_Death of a Bachelor came out and I died_**

**_4._********_I turned 14_**

**_5._********_The 100 came back on air and (SPOILERS) Lexa fucking died and my smol precious Monty child has betrayed me_**

**_Like I said, I'm sorry I'm a mess I just couldn't write anything but now I kind of can so yay_**

**_Alsooooo today I learn what high school I got into I'M SO SCARED HOLD ME_**

**Doctor's POV:**

We decide to ditch our 3 remaining shoes, favoring stealth over speed (though Gwen does grumble bit about her plans of literal ass-kicking being foiled). My sock-covered feet slip slightly on the smooth metal, and I find myself closing my eyes, reminded of times past.

_ "Where to today, Rose Tyler? Ancient Greece? Pluto? The Parsicuno Galaxy? I've heard they have brilliant radioactive Jell-O." I spin on my heels excitedly, long fingers dancing over the TARDIS controls as I call out potential vacation spots. "How about we visit a family of Carmenhers? I'm fairly sure I haven't offended any of them yet."_

_ I stop, noticing Rose's lack of input. "Rose?" I call, "Rose!"_

_ No reply._

_ I practically slam the buttons on the TARDIS, scanning the ship for Rose. A green light appears under my feet, and identical spots soon light up in other parts of the floor, creating a path that disappears down a nearby corridor._

_Glad I figured out how to work that feature, I follow the trail of lights down hallways even I've forgotten, until a voice reaches my ears. "Doctor!" Rose. I break into a run, hundreds of horrific possibilities flooding into my mind. Did something get on the ship? Daleks? Cybermen?_

_ The corridor gives way to a large room and I stop in my tracks, dumbfounded at the sight. Rose isn't in trouble at all. Instead, she's turning slow circles in the room, eyes wide and body outlined in golden light. "Doctor!" she exclaims when she spots me, "You have a ballroom!" _

_ And yes, it appears she has found my ballroom (if you can call it that, what with the whole 80s vibe I designed it with. Those were strange times). I haven't used it for several regenerations, but it's still stunning as ever, with a glossy silver floor and walls made almost completely of stained glass. She slides towards me with her socks (her shoes have been discarded just inside the doorway), and now she's bathed in turquoise light, then emerald green, then cherry red._

_ When she reaches me, she stretches out her hand. "C'mon, Doctor. You've danced with me once before."_

_ Almost without deciding to, I kick off my shoes and she pulls me forward. We twirl across the dance floor, fingers just barely touching as we glide through the multicolored light patterns._

"Doctor?" the voice cuts through my moment of reminiscence, and the scene replaying itself behind my eyelids falls away. Gwen stands in front of me, smirking with her hands on her hips. "You daydreaming or something?"

"Huh?"

"You look like a mournful puppy. Cute, but I really don't think puppies overpower Dalek armies."

"You'd be surprised."

She raises an eyebrow, curious in spite of herself. "Seriously?"

"Well, technically it was a robotic dog named K9, but…"

She cuts me off. "As great of a story that may be, I prefer myself in a not dead form, and I'm pretty sure you feel the same."

I straighten up, jumping a little. "Right! Allon-sy!" I exclaim, and with that we're slinking down the hallway, off to Rose's rescue.

**Rose's POV:**

I barely give myself a second to admire my cleverness (besides, that's the Doctor's job) before I start off down the hallway. Although the Daleks can't shoot at me, a group as small as three or four could still easily corner me, so I stay wary, knowing the Dalek I left inside the room probably has some psychic way of calling for backup.

I head towards the room where we arrived, not wanting to get lost in unfamiliar corridors. As I walk, I mentally replay my conversation with my captor (or, ex-captor). _The void. The time vortex. Her motivation to get back to our universe._

_ The climax. Jeez, didn't we already have a climax back on Planeta Amore? Or when I died? This lady is relentless._

The hallway is ridiculously long, and I envision my plan in my head as I continue down it. _Get to the TARDIS room. Take the other door. Find the Doctor._ Shaky at best, but I'm not sure any of me or the Doctor's plans ever actually go as they're supposed to, and we're both still alive (at least, for the most part).

Just as I'm becoming absolutely certain that this hallway is actually an optical illusion and I'm really just walking on a giant treadmill, I turn a corner and an archway looms up in front of me. I sigh in relief, but am soon back in my determined battle mode as I flatten against the cool metal wall and begin to creep towards the opening.

When I reach the arch, I remain against the wall and peer into the room beyond. The TARDIS is still there, but it seems ignored. Just a prop in the grand plan, whatever that scheme may consist of.

Whatever the woman and her Dalek army are up to, it's going on in this room, which is an issue, considering the door the Doctor and Gwen were taken through is now on the other side of a sizable group of Daleks. I hazard a step to the side in order to get a better look at the situation.

My former (and perhaps current, since I'm still stuck on her ship) captor stands in the center of the room, her elegant silver dress and heels starkly contrasting her less-than ladylike actions as she barks orders to a group of four Daleks. I watch as they surround a long cylindrical object, struggling to push it into a standing position with their whisk-and-toilet-plunger appendages.

The woman finally gets fed up with the Daleks' apparent inadequacy and goes over to lift one end of the object herself. Her painted lips move, I'm too far away to her what she says since she's no longer shouting, but it's no doubt some complaint about the idiocy and inferiority of her Dalek henchmen. I watch as she bends her knees as much as she can with her stylish but impractical wardrobe choices and raises the far end of the cylinder up above her head. It's about as thick as a person, and-

_Rose_.

It's a small whisper, almost melodic. At first, I think I've imagined it, like when you're in the playground when you're little and someone says something that sounds similar to your name and you momentarily think you're mom's calling you. But then it comes again, speaking only for me. _Rose_.

I find myself staring intently at the glass cylinder, and I realize the whisper is coming from their, though it's not carrying in the way sound normally would. It must be telepathic, somehow. _The Bad Wolf calls._

Almost involuntarily, I step forward. The glass cylinder contains a white, slightly iridescent substance that swirls like a distant nebula, and it mesmerizes me, drawing me in. It adds to the hypnotic force of the voice in my head, which is increasing in volume as I get nearer to the ethereal cloud I know all too well.

The time vortex.

The woman, of course, notices my uncontrollable walk forward, and her face breaks into a sickening grin. She lets go of the cylinder, and the Daleks continue on their difficult mission to prop it up. "Rose," she greets wickedly, "you're a bit early for the show, but I suppose that's to be expected. You do have a lead role, after all."

But I'm barely listening. The world around me fades into unimportant splotches of dull color and abstract shapes as I continue on my path to the cylinder. The voice continues in my head, stronger, eager to meet me.

_ The Bad Wolf calls, Rose Tyler. Won't you pick up the phone?_

**_I feel like my shitty writing is improving. I'm still not one of those people who writes like 6k words per chapter though :( Anyway, this fic is probably going to end soon ahhhhhhhh. Originally it was supposed to end back in like chapter 17 lmao but now I have an actual ending planned out and stuff I'M NOT READY GUYS_**


	37. 36: Reuinion At Last (Sort Of)

**_Oh my god okay I need to actually start writing things_**

**_I know I've said it a million times, but I. Am. So. Sorry. I've had so much schoolwork with finals and stuff and I've been using all my writing time and energy to write this new Ryden fic on my Wattpad and I'm also just kind of slipping in and out of having the motivation to do anything so yeah. I don't even know how I'll find time to write next year since I got into the best and hardest high school in the city (I'm still really happy I got tho even though I'll be stressed af)_**

**_So yeah I'm kind of just going through crap, plus I'm taking extra classes that extend into the summer so that I can go straight to sophomore math classes in my freshmen year so I just have a lot to do. Major kudos to you guys for sticking with me and not hating me (well, not totally, at least. Maybe. Please? Yeah okay let's face it you all hate me)._**

**_Honestly I feel like shit right now but I owe this to you guys so I'm just gonna power through this. _**

**_Literally 2 months later, after graduating from 8_****_th_****_ grade and being followed on Tumblr by the author of the milk fic: Ayyyyyyy I'm a piece of shit and for some reason have no inspiration or talent whatsoever but now I'm actually going to write this_**

**Doctor's POV:**

Despite the dramatic "allon-sy" at the beginning, the journey down the hallway is slow, careful, and incredibly tense, not to mention completely silent. Resisting the urge to shatter the confinements of stealth and heroically charge into the unknown, I tiptoe down the corridor with Gwen close at my heels.

Gwen manages to stay silent for a while, until we've been walking down identical hallways for several minutes. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she whispers skeptically.

"Of course! I'm a master at mazes," I reply immediately, turning to face her.

If anything, this statement only increases her doubt. "You sure."

"Who do you think the Minotuar story is about?"

"Ha-ha," she says wryly. At my lack of response, she raises an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously? You're that Thistles guy?"

"Theseus. And no, all he did was follow the path _I _left behind."

"Why's he the famous one, then?"  
"Well, I wasn't as strikingly attractive as I am now."

Gwen shakes her head, looking slightly amused. "I've got no idea how Rose puts up with you."

I shrug, and luckily I'm slightly ahead of the Torchwood agent, so she doesn't notice how the grin on my face is slightly too wide to be real. "Me neither."

She seems to pause in her path down the hallway for a fraction of a second, before quickening her pace slightly in order to catch up with me. "We're going to find her," she tells me, in what I can tell is the voice she uses to comfort those whom she has rescued back in Cardiff. The lost and confused, and sometimes near insane, who have, in one stroke of particularly bad luck, discovered the truth about everything that goes on outside of their world, and perhaps lost a close friend or family member on the side.

Yes, this is definitely the tone Gwen reserves for them, with its uncharacteristic meekness and sympathetic feel, mixed with concealed desperation and slightly false-sounding positivity. Like the voice of a parent when their 5-year-old just dropped their ice cream, hurriedly assuring their child that they'll replace in the hopes of avoiding a tantrum. My smile is much more convincing this time, though I do lengthen my strides to get away from the horribly pitying face she's making at me.

I may be an advocate for the helpless and needy, but in no way am I one of them.

My reply to her sentiment (which was going to be a jaunty "You are correct, Gwen Cooper") is cut off when Gwen stops abruptly, furrowing her brow at a seemingly random scuff on the otherwise shiny metal wall. "Are you sure you know where we're going?" she inquires, "Because we've passed that same scratch at least five times."

I'm about to answer her with some sort of unconcerned reassurance when I take a second glance at the spot she's pointing to and realize that it _does_ look slightly familiar. I take a step closer to it warily, retracing our path in my head. _We can't have gone in a complete circle, so what is it? A message of some sort, or is it a-_

"Oh look," a loud and sickeningly familiar voice interrupts my train of thought. Gwen and I look around wildly, searching for the source of it, but there appears to be none.

Our captor, who I realize has still not properly introduced herself, sounds uninterested as she speaks, as if she has much bigger concerns than us. Concerns pertaining to Rose, perhaps? The double pulse from my two hearts quickens as her disembodied voice continues to speak. "A glitch. See, that's the problem with scavenged technology. It's just never quite as nice as it was before some imbeciles threw it in the void. Such a shame."

Suddenly, a rectangle of wall above the apparent glitch lights up and becomes some sort of screen, revealing the owner of the voice, standing with her knees bent so she can look straight into a spherical lensed camera, which I soon deduce to be the eyestalk of a Dalek. Her eyes glitter with malicious satisfaction at my flabbergasted expression. "Ah, yes, you must be confused. But really, you didn't think escaping would really be that easy, did you? One measly little door and a couple of Daleks? Honestly, I was expecting more from you, doctor. And the fact that it was your little piece of cannon fodder there that noticed the repetition before you did? Laughable, really."

My eyes widen as the cause of this predicament dawns on me. "We haven't moved at all, have we? You've trapped us in some sort of illusion… that's rather impressive, actually."

"_Doctor!_" Gwen hisses, obviously disapproving of my last statement.

"Just stating the facts!"

The woman clears her throat and flashes an obviously false smile. "That he is. Of course, I could've done it much better back in my own universe, but no matter. I won't be holding you for long, anyway. Wouldn't even need to, if it weren't for that whole Planeta Amore fiasco. Such a waste of resources, that one. Of course, it was a great chance to perfect what little virtual reality tech is available here, which is really what made this whole endless hallway thing possible, so really, I should be thanking you for…" she continues on her narcissistic tangent, but it becomes a sort of white noise as my focus turns to the part of the frame just beyond her pale neck.

About twenty feet behind our captor is a cylinder, which I originally took to be a pillar, but I now realize is something much more pivotal. What I first thought to be just an iridescent coloring I now notice to be not solid at all, but instead a cloudy substance, moving in slow spirals inside a glass case.

It's bright, almost blindingly so, and the more I look at it, the more mesmerized I become, and the heavier the sudden brick of dread in my stomach becomes.

This woman, with her Dalek army and apparent passion for evening gowns, has somehow managed to steal and contain the heart of the TARDIS.

Speaking of said dress-obsessed woman, I blink out of my racing thoughts to find her letting out a cold laugh. "I see you've managed to catch on, Doctor. A pity, really. I do love explaining myself," her eyes continue shine in some sort of sadistic ecstasy as she presses her lips into an expression of faux disappointment, before waving a manicured hand to the side, as if too shoo away the minor letdown. "But no matter. It's your reaction that I enjoy, and what better way to experience an honest reaction than with a live performance? Really, I…"

I tune her out again, which is becoming increasingly easier each time she opens her mouth. Perhaps there are perks to being taken prisoner by such a talkative individual. Regardless, I've noticed something much more pressing on the screen that the narcissistic woman in the foreground.

I have to squint for a moment to make sure it's really her, but, then again, exactly how many slightly disheveled blonde girls can there really be on a Dalek ship in the middle of the void? Yes, it's definitely Rose, and I watch in a mixture of relief at seeing her and horror at her surroundings as I watch her blonde head and curvy body appear on the screen and begin to walk across the room.

After barely a second of watching, though, any residual relief fades, leaving only dismay. She doesn't take her eyes off her destination for even a second to survey the scene happening no more than thirty feet away from her, as if she doesn't even realize Gwen and I are there, being displayed on what I assume to be a screen identical to the one I'm watching her through. No, she is facing completely ahead as she walks, even leaning forward a bit, almost as if in a trance.

And that trance is leading her straight for the grand centerpiece of the room, the ever-so-worrying cylinder holding one of the most powerful substances in the universe.

The heart of the TARDIS.

I manage tear my focus from the scene just in time to catch the last statement of the speech of the woman behind it all. "I would have you all write essays about this one-of-a-kind experience, except I seriously doubt you'll live long enough to turn them in."

**_Going through old chapters, I realized I used to write THE SHORTEST CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE OH MY GOD 466 WORDS WTF I CAN LITERALLY FIT THAT ON MY COMPUTER SCREEN WITHOUT SCROLLING AT ALL wow I sucked why did you guys even keep reading this lmao. I like to think that my writing skills have improved over the course of this fic_**


End file.
